Dream On
by impalapal
Summary: Just what is causing Dean to have terrible nightmares and what happens when the lines between dreams and reality bemome blurred. Will Sam be able to save his brother. Lots of hurt Dean, worried Sam and Bobby. Lots of angst and some John Winchester.
1. Chapter 1

_**Dream On**_

**Don't you just love season 5****?**

**Once again in this story we couldn't resist lots of hurt Dean, lots of hurt Sam and lots of angst from both. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer****: Supernatural belongs to Kripke and the CW and no matter how much we begged, pleaded and sobbed they would not relinquish their hold, which is a good thing really as it means we get to see more of the awesome Winchester brothers on TV.**

**One final note, italics signify dreams and for those of you out there who have read any of our previous stories we can promise you we have figured out how to post without the italics appearing as a jumbled and practically impossible to read mess.**

**I would like to thank sunnyjunedays for her invaluable support in putting this story together. Without her it wouldn't have made it past the first word.**

**Also John Winchester makes an appearance.**

**Spoilers for all seasons.**

**Hope you enjoy the**** chapter.**

**Chapter One**

"_Sam, Dean, get your asses down here. NOW!"_

_Sam Winchester threw down the book he'd been reading and leapt to his feet "What the hell?"_

"_Well something's definitely crawled up his ass and has him royally pissed. C'mon, we better go see what he wants." Dean pulled himself from his bed ,the one he always slept in when he stayed at Pastor Jims and one of only two beds he could truly call his own, the other being at Bobby's place, the usual sleeping place for him, his brother and his dad when he was around being a flea ridden motel room or the impala._

"_He's pissed? He's not the only one." Sam paused and heaved in a breath before turning to face his totally confused big brother "I'm sick of the way he treats us, fed up of how he speaks, no orders us around, we're grown men Dean, adults and he treats us as nothing more than naughty school kids so no, we're not going, not until he starts treating us properly."_

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Sam fought to peel his eyes open and squinted at the clock on the bedside table "3.36am" he muttered "Dean you've only been asleep for a couple of hours, what're y…Dean?

Reaching up and pulling the cord to turn the light on Sam's bleary eyes quickly scanned the room; he took in his brothers empty bed, the empty room, the obviously uninhabited bathroom. He couldn't see Dean but he could still hear him, could hear unintelligible muttered words and deep breaths.

Throwing the covers back Sam swung his long legs around until his feet hit the floor and pulling himself upright he stealthily walked around the end of the bed until he was looking at his brothers dishevelled and still sleeping form, the muttering coupled with flailing arms both amusing and worrying him. "Dean." Sam crouched next to his brother "Dean, c'mon man, you should get back into bed."

"NO SAM, NOT NOW!" Dean pushed hard as he shouted, connecting with Sam's chest and pushing him backwards, causing the younger man to lose his balance and land ungracefully on his backside.

"Okay Dean, we're gonna get you back into bed." Sam pulled himself to his knees and scooted around until he was behind his brother where he hooked his hands under Dean's arms and tried to lift him but found that he couldn't keep a hold on his brother and rise from his knees so he unhooked his hands and brought himself up into a crouch and repeated his efforts to lift Dean, this time he was successful, they were both upright but Dean was still fast asleep although the erratic movements and mumbling had stopped which made manoeuvring his brother towards the bed slightly easier. After making painfully slow progress Sam at last stood beside his brothers bed, Dean still sound asleep, "Okay bro, gonna tuck you in for the night." Sam eased his hold on his brother and was just about to lower him to the thin mattress when Dean's head lolled forward and rested against Sam's chest.

Sam's arms momentarily tightened their hold on his brother, he rested his chin on the top of Dean's head, the still spiky hair tickling his skin before clearing his throat and laying his brother down after which he pulled the bedclothes up and after standing for a moment surveying his apparently deeply sleeping brother Sam turned and slowly trudged back to his own bed, his stomach still flip flopping as he pulled his own covers up and turned out the light. 'What was Dean dreaming about' Sam mused silently 'Dean wasn't susceptible to nightmares, that was something Sam had the monopoly on in the Winchester family, except for the time after Dean had returned from hell, then he'd had the worst nightmares imaginable and who could blame him, god, Sam didn't think he would've survived it but Dean had come back and had appeared as he always was, on the surface at least, but as time went by both Sam and Bobby noticed that he constantly needed a drink within easy reach and, even when they were on a hunt, would drink himself to sleep every night, nights which were filled with the worst nightmares Sam had ever witnessed. Of course Dean refused to talk about it and would change the subject or simply clam up whenever Sam tried to get him to open up so Sam did what he knew was best, he lured him to Bobby and the salvage yard where the two of them worked together to get Dean to share his experiences of his time in hell with them, it hadn't been easy and Sam and Bobby despaired of ever succeeding in breaking through the barrier Dean had put up until Sam brought their mom and dad into the equation, he used his brothers love for his family to get him to open up and although he wasn't proud of himself it was worth it because it was what broke the barrier and led to him finally recounting what he could remember and as horrifying and heartbreaking it was to see his brother break in front of him Sam knew it was for the best and after a couple more weeks of down time with Bobby he and Dean once again hit the road, not completely healed, that would probably never happen, but they were well on the way to something close.

Sam's mind drifted to Ruby and the repercussions that his relationship with her had created but quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, he didn't want to dwell on that, not now, now he needed to focus on Dean. Sitting up and peering through the darkness Sam could just make out the sleeping shape of his brother in the other bed and lay back down 'At least he seems to be okay now' were the last thoughts to flit across his mind as he succumbed to the pull of sleep.

Little did he know that in the next bed Dean's nightmare continued.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"_You're not serious Sam, this isn't the time or the place to do this, now stop being an ass and let's get down there."_

"_No."_

"_Sam."_

"_No."_

_Dean turned away from his brother and reached for the door handle, but before opening he turned and tried once more "C'mon Sammy, we can talk about this later, you can hear how he is, it must be important."_

"_That's just it Dean, it's always important, to him anyway. I'm not going Dean and if you have any self respect you won't either."_

_Dean's eyes lingered on Sam for a few moments before he slowly pulled the door open and stepped out onto Pastor Jim's landing, the silence from the room behind him ringing in his ears just as loudly as his dad's heavy footsteps pacing the length of the hall downstairs as he waited for his sons to appear._

_Taking one step at a time Dean peered downwards, the pacing having stopped only to be replaced by heavy breathing._

"_Dad?"_

"_What in hell's name took you so long and where's your brother?" John Winchester growled at his son._

"_Er, Sammy's just finishing something up, he'll be down soon as he can."_

"_He is huh! When I ask you boys to come down here I expect you to come, both of you. But no matter, it's you I really wanted."_

_Dean noticed his father's stiff shoulders, straight back, clenched fist and mad as hell expression and couldn't help the involuntary shiver running up his spine. Something was wrong, very wrong._

"_What is it?" He quietly asked his father._

"_WHAT IS IT? His dad's voice boomed back, the tone cold and hostile._

_As he neared the last few stairs which would take him directly in front of his dad Dean heard the bedroom door open, the sound of his brother jogging down the stairs to catch him up and was comforted by the presence of his kid brother as the knots in his stomach grew tighter and tighter. Whatever it was that had sent his dad into the rage he was in right now was not gonna be good for either of them, of that Dean was certain._

_As soon as his foot landed on the last stair Dean felt himself dragged forward as his dad grasped his shirt front and roughly swung him around, slamming him into the hard unforgiving wall, his head impacting violently with the smooth surface._

_Blinking rapidly in an effort to force back the encroaching darkness whilst struggling against his dad's iron grip, his brothers shouts for his dad to let go of his brother fading in and out Dean managed to breathe out a plea._

"_Dad, what's goin on?"_

_Before he could answer John Winchester left hand was grasped, Sam had managed to pry the strong fingers from the material of the shirt and pull the hand away, forcing it behind his dad's back but Sam wasn't prepared for the venomous tone or the sheer brute strength of the eldest Winchester and was sent careening backwards until he too slammed into the wall, the opposite wall, his back taking the full force of the blow. He slid to the floor as the breath was knocked out of him._

_On seeing his brother hurt Dean struggled even harder but was unable to break free of the relentless hold his dad had on him._

"_Dad, for god's sake, what's goin on?"_

"_What's going on?" His dad spat. "I have no idea how you have the nerve to even ask that question. You think I wouldn't find out, is that it?"_

"_Find out what" Dad, I have no idea what you're talking about._

"_Right now I'm ashamed to call you my son."_

_With those words echoing around the hallway John Winchester let out a growl and pulled his left arm back before swinging it forward, the clenched fist connecting brutally with the side of his son's temple, immediately rendering the young man unconscious._

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Eyes' springing open as his body jerked Dean sat bolt upright, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he peered across the small divide between the beds and was relieved to see his brother still asleep. Quietly pulling himself to his feet he silently padded to the minute bathroom and gently closed the door before turning on the light and going over to the sink where he splashed his face with cold water and gasped as he looked at his reflection in the small mirror.

A huge purple bruise adorned the left side of his face starting at his temple and travelling halfway down his cheekbone, the ache accompanying it making him grimace as he fingered the discolored skin. "What the hell" he whispered seconds before his body began trembling as the memories of the dream forced their way to the forefront of his mind.

After standing for what seemed like hours in front of the mirror as he relived the dream Dean turned and silently made his way back into the main room, past his still sleeping brother and onto his own bed where he sat back and pulled his legs up so he could rest his arms on his knees as he tried to work through what he could have done between going to sleep and now to injure himself. He figured he could tell Sam he fell out of bed and hit the corner of the bedside table as he went down but got no further than that as his eyes slid closed and he succumbed to the pull of sleep.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"Dean"

"Hey Dean."

"Wassup"

"You gonna sleep all day."

"Wha"

"C'mon Dean, we promised Bobby we'd be at his place by mid afternoon and its 11.30 already."

"Bobby's"

"Yeah Dean, Bobby's. Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothin, you just look a little pale is all."

"I'm fine Sam."

"Maybe this'll make you feel better and help you wake up." Sam walked towards his brother, a steaming mug of coffee in one hand, his other reaching out to pull the thick brown curtains open as he passed the small window, bright sunlight immediately flooded the dark interior of the motel room causing Dean to turn his head a little in an attempt to hide the bruise as well as to keep the sunlight out of his still sleepy eyes. "Here you go" Sam handed the coffee to his brother and perched on the end of the bed a small smile deepening his dimples "You have one too many last night after I turned in?"

"What! No! The only thing I drank last night was coffee and a soda." Dean waited for his brother to mention the bruise but Sam continued to make plans for when they arrived at Bobby's, filled his brother in on what he thought their next move should be on the Lucifer front, asked about Cas's whereabouts but didn't mention, didn't even seem to notice anything different about his brother's appearance.

Dean listened to his brother talking about anything and everything except the one thing which was staring him in the face and found his temper rising, his irritation with his brother for thinking that he'd hit the bottle again and acquired the bruise because he'd drank too much finally getting the better of him.

"Screw you Sam."

"What!" Sam frowned at his brother "You sure you're okay?"

"The only thing wrong with me is you. You really think I was on the Jack again last night, after everything. You should know that I don't do that anymore, yeah okay, I have a beer once in a while but I know when to stop Sam so get off my case and go preach to someone who needs it cause I sure as hell don't."

Dean swung his legs off the bed and grabbing his duffle stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him leaving Sam staring after his brother and wondering what the hell he'd done to cause Dean to fly off the handle, to freak out like that. Sam also knew that until Dean wanted to discuss it further then Sam would just have to wait, so with a sigh and a frown lining his face Sam continued packing his things in readiness for their departure.

After locking the door behind him Dean threw his duffle to the floor before moving to the mirror, he wanted to examine his face, see if the bruise had gotten any bigger since the night before. 'One good thing though,' Dean silently mused, 'at least it didn't ache any more.' He raised his eyes and looked at his reflection, confusion marring his features as he stared at his mirror image; his unmarked, unbruised, and perfectly normal as it always was face stared back at him "What the hell?" he muttered quietly and proceeded to run his fingers along his left temple and down his left cheek but came up with nothing, no pain, no marks, nothing. He wracked his brain, sought through everything he remembered from last night, wondered if he could have dreamt the whole thing but then dismissed that thought, he knew it was real, had felt the pain.

A loud banging on the bathroom door pulled Dean from his thoughts "Okay Sam, I'll be out in ten" he turned on the shower and whilst waiting for it to heat up cleaned his teeth and had a quick shave before jumping under the warm spray and having one of the shortest showers he'd ever had before dressing in clean clothes and rejoining his brother in the room.

"You ready to go?" Sam looked up as his brother walked into the room, his hair still wet, little drops of water dripping onto the shoulders of his green shirt.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Erm Sam, about before…"

"Yeah."

Dean lowered his gaze before answering his brother "Sorry. Just tired I guess."

"Right." Sam knew his brother was keeping something to himself but also knew that pushing to get anything out of him would just make him all the more stubborn and would most likely lead to the two of them arguing again so decided to take the apology at face value and wait until Dean was ready to open up to him, he also promised himself that he would keep a close eye on his brother for the next few days at least. Dean's nightmare the previous night still worried Sam, it left him with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, his brother just didn't do nightmares, not anymore anyway.

Just under thirty minutes later the Winchester brothers sat side by side in the Impala, ready to begin their journey to the Singer Salvage Yard and a little down time interspersed with research and fact finding on how they were going to track down and deal with Lucifer and the impending apocalypse.

"We okay?" Dean looked toward his little brother, he still felt guilty for yelling at him earlier but couldn't explain the reason, hell he didn't even understand it himself so how could he expect Sam to.

"Yeah, we're good." Sam gave his brother a half smile; he knew this was Dean's way of apologizing for his melt down earlier.

Seconds later the impala roared to life and disappeared out of the motel parking lot in a shower of gravel.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

The young guy manning the motel reception desk smiled appreciatively as he watched the classic car disappear from view before reaching for the phone "You wanted to know when those two guys left, well they've just left. Yeah, just now, I just watched them drive out." The guy listened intently for a few minutes, his attention caught by the sound of the door opening, an elderly man entering, "Look I gotta go, just drop the money off later and we're quits."

Placing the receiver on the hook the guy smiled at the newcomer "Evening Sir, you after a room?"

"No actually, it's you I'm looking for."

"Me! Do I know you?

"No."

"Look mister, I haven't got time to play games, my shifts up in a few minutes and I still have the rooms to check so if you don't mind…"

"I don't mind at all young man, but you won't be checking the rooms tonight, you won't be doing anything tonight."

A bad feeling spreading through his gut sent the young guy reaching for the phone but before he could even lift it from it's cradle an agonized scream erupted from his mouth as he slowly sunk to the ground, the bones in his feet then his legs liquefying, skin and limbs folding as he sank further, the bones continuing to disintegrate until there was nothing left but a mass of empty flesh.

The elderly man walked around the reception desk, looked down on the unfortunate young receptionist, bent forward slightly and whispered "No loose ends" before turning and walking out into the cool afternoon air.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

**T.B.C………………………………We'd love to hear what you think so far.**

Thanks for reading

impalapal and sunnyjunedays


	2. Chapter 2

_**Dream On**_

**Once again I would like to thank sunnyjunedays for her invaluable support in putting this story together. Without her it wouldn't have made it past the first word.**

**Disclaimer****: Supernatural belongs to Kripke and the CW and no matter how much we begged, pleaded and sobbed they would not relinquish their hold, which is a good thing really as it means we get to see more of the awesome Winchester brothers on tv.**

**Spoilers for all seasons.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter Two**

Glancing across at his brother slumped against the passenger door, nose buried in a book and Dean couldn't help but smile; this is how it used to be, him driving and his kid brother riding shotgun, it was good to get back to that.

The smile slowly slid from Dean's face as he recalled how different things had been recently, how he'd let his brother down in the most terrible way just a couple of short months ago. Yeah, he admitted they'd had more than their fair share of problems recently, that he couldn't understand how Sam could've ever trusted Ruby even though Dean was able to admit to himself that eventually he too had come to trust her a little, not as much as Sam but a little and she had saved his little brothers life after he'd watched Dean be torn to shreds, his soul destined for the pit, hell the kid'd had to bury his own brother and Dean knew how hard that had to have been for Sam, after all he'd experienced his brother dying and knew the devastation he'd felt as he held the cold lifeless body in his arms but he hadn't had to physically bury Sam, no he'd made that fucking deal and put his brother through a whole year of false hopes and undying optimism that he would be able to save him.

As if that wasn't enough, once he was plucked out of hell by the angels he'd done nothing but push Sam away, hell he'd even hit him a few times which is something Dean would never forgive himself for, Sam had enough to cope with without the one person he should be able to trust turning on him. He'd dismissed Sam's 'powers' as evil, wouldn't even listen when Sam'd tried to explain why he was using them and then as well as a multitude of other things the kid had to cope with there was Lucifer. Between the two of them he and his brother had been instrumental in breaking the first and final seals, therefore setting Lucifer free.

It was that last thing that weighed Dean down the most, the fact that he'd let his brother go off by himself and had then refused to let him back, even after the kid'd told him that Lucifer wanted him as a vessel.

Dean ran his fingers through his hair as he vowed that never again would he let his brother down, that Lucifer or any other demon or any supernatural being would get anywhere near his brother, not while he had anything to say about it. He had a lot to make up to Sam and he was gonna do it if it was the last thing he ever did.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Glancing furtively out of the corner of his eye Sam knew exactly what was going through his brother's mind; Dean was drowning in a sea of guilt, Sam knew the signs, had always known, even when they were kids when his brother was beating himself up about something. The only thing Sam didn't know was what to do about it, he'd tried and tried countless times to talk things out but Dean refused, said he was sorry and that from now on things would be okay, but Sam didn't want Dean to be sorry, Dean'd done nothing to be sorry for.

They'd both made a mess of things over the last year, kept secrets from each other which had blown up in their faces and resulted in them going their separate ways for a time.

Sam regretted now ever suggesting they part company and wished he could turn back time, do things differently, but knew that wasn't gonna happen so he'd just have to make his brother understand, as impossible as that seemed right now he wasn't gonna give up.

Sam recalled the time a month or so ago when he'd received the call from Dean asking him to meet him on that dirt track a couple of days after Dean'd told him they were better off apart, stronger apart, he was worried that Dean was going to end it once and for all and couldn't believe the relief he'd felt when his brother had done the exact opposite.

That first week together had been strained to say the least but things were slowly getting back to something like normal, normal for them anyway, although they still weren't totally relaxed with each other it was getting better, the trust was returning, now Sam wanted to hear his brother call him by one of the multitude of names he'd made up over the years, what he wouldn't give to hear a 'geekboy' or 'samantha' or 'princess' or even 'Sammy' hell anything would do, it'd prove they really were getting back what they once had.

With a resigned sigh Sam returned to his book, his eyes drooping as he was lulled into a comforting sleep by the presence of his brother next to him and the purr of the impala's engine.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Sam jerked awake, his body springing forward and then catapulting backwards as his seatbelt did its job. The sound of laughter followed by another knock on the window beside him brought his head springing around only to be confronted with the grinning face of his brother, his muffled words only just discernible through the glass.

"C'mon sleeping beauty, wanna get something to eat, I'm starving."

His own face breaking out into a smile, not because of the promise of food but because his brother had done one small thing that made him feel as though the two of them really were together again.

Pushing the door open and climbing out of the car Sam stood facing his brother "You're always hungry Dean, in fact if you're not careful the impala's not gonna be the only thing around here carrying a spare tyre." Sam's eyes travelled to Dean's midriff as he laughed his answer.

"Nah Sammy, there are three reasons that's not gonna happen, one, this fine body is a mass of perfectly honed muscle, two, I have a naturally fast metabolism and three, Dean waggled his eyebrows, I get plenty of exercise, if you know what I mean." Still grinning he turned on his heel and strode across the parking lot and towards the diner.

Sam snorted before breaking into a jog to catch up with his brother, his heart lighter than it had been for a long time.

Once inside the small eatery they found themselves an empty booth towards the back of the diner and waited for the waitress to come and take their order.

Sam was about to speak but Dean got in first.

"Sam, about earlier I sho…"

"Dean, its okay, you…"

"No, it's not okay, I shouldn't have treated you like that, it's just, I guess I was still tired and…"

Sam's gut instinct was to tell Dean it didn't matter, but it did matter, not that Dean had yelled him out, that wasn't it, what did matter was that Dean was obviously spooked by something and Dean didn't spook easily so Sam decided to test the water and bring up the previous night.

"Dean, look, I understand okay, you didn't get much sleep last night, you're obviously worried about something and although I want you to tell me what, I know you will when you're ready, so don't sweat it, okay."

Dean fixed his eyes on his brother "You had to do it didn't you."

Sam frowned "What, what did I do."

"You used your psychology crap on me."

Sam snorted "No I didn't."

"Did so."

"Did not."

"Did so."

"Di…, Dean."

Dean grinned "Hah, made you do it."

"What are you, seven!"

"Nah just an awesome big brother."

"Yeah right."

"Ye…" Dean stopped and lowered his eyes "Nah, guess not huh."

Sam mentally kicked himself 'Why the hell did I say that' he thought silently as he took in his brothers bent head and slumped shoulders. "Dean…"

"About this morning" Dean began, raising his eyes to look at his brother "I was so pissed because, well, man I had a weird dream last night."

Sam didn't want to stop his brother so simply nodded for him to continue.

Dean waited for the pretty, young, blonde waitress to unladen the tray of food they'd ordered, Sam's concern building as his brother didn't even offer a smile, even a glance as she sashayed away from their table.

Sam listened as Dean recounted the details of the nightmare and unconsciously ran his hand across his face as he explained about the bruise and how he'd rounded on Sam because he'd assumed, or so Dean thought, that he'd been hitting the bottle again.

"And you're sure you had a bruise? It couldn't have been because you were tired, maybe shadows in the dim light?"

"It was there Sam, hell it hurt like a bitch. I didn't imagine it."

"No, no I'm not saying you did, I just wanted to make sure is all, and for the record, I didn't think you were back on the booze, it was just a joke, that's all."

"So whaddya think?"

"I dunno Dean, it's gotta mean something, you don't just bring things out of a dream, no matter what they are. Soon as we get to Bobby's we'll research it, see if we can find anything similar, maybe Bobby'll know something. C'mon lets finish this and get going."

Truthfully the last thing Dean wanted to do right now was eat but he had to at least make an effort, if he didn't he knew Sam would pick up on it and he didn't want to lay anything else on his brothers shoulders.

Twenty minutes later saw them ready to leave "I just have to visit the bathroom; I'll meet you at the car." Sam practically jogged to the back of the diner and once inside the small room pulled his phone out, hit speed-dial for Bobby and quickly filled him in about Dean's nightmare, bruise and all before ending the call, relieved that Bobby was going to get right on it, see if he could come up with anything before they arrived.

Sam's heart thudded painfully in his chest when he got close enough to his brother to see the exhaustion lining his face, the fact Dean was wearing Sam's hoody, the one that his brother always seemed to ferret out when he was hurting in some way, as though it offered him some comfort, only adding to his fear. "Dean, why don't I drive for a while, you get some rest, catch up on the sleep you lost last night, you look exhausted."

"I'm okay Sam."

"Really Dean, c'mon let me drive."

"I said I'm okay Sam, now get in the car." Dean climbed into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut, ending the conversation.

Sam sighed as he walked around to the car and folded himself into the seat buckling his seatbelt as the car sped off.

In truth Dean was tired, more tired than he could ever remember feeling, and that just wasn't normal, hell he and Sam had missed more sleep than he'd missed last night, they'd sometimes go days without any rest and could still carry on as normal so how he was feeling now just added fuel to the fire that there was more to this than just a bad night and he thought he knew what it was, more than thought, he was convinced that his dad had done this to pull him up about how he'd been treating his brother.

Dad'd managed to claw his way out of hell to help he and Sam kill yellow eyes so why shouldn't he be able to find his way to them from wherever he was now.

Dean's mind recalled all the times in their lives when he'd put Sammy in danger because he hadn't been quick enough, or something had got the drop on him, how his dad would tear into him afterwards, but dad never hit either he or Sam, he just yelled and cursed in the only way John Winchester could and put them through gruelling training exercises, after all, his dad would say, a strong, fit and healthy body meant a strong fit and healthy mind so if you're sloppy enough to put your brother in danger then you need this. Dean just hoped that his dad didn't know about the time he let Sammy die.

"**Dean, look out."**

Sam grabbed the wheel and managed to pull the car to the side of the road, "hit the brakes Dean, NOW."

Sam unbuckled his seat belt and throwing the door open practically fell out onto the grass verge, he ran around to the driver's side and after nearly yanking the door off its hinges literally dragged his brother from the car.

"What the hell was that Dean?" Sam yelled.

"Huh."

"That was you nearly getting us killed Dean, that was what that was."

"What?"

"You nearly got us killed Dean, what happened?"

"Huh? Did i?"

Sam felt bad for yelling at his brother so lowering his voice he continued "Dean, it's okay, no harm done, you're just tired, get some rest, I'm gonna drive the rest of the way to Bobby's.

Dean, arms hanging loosely by his side, a look of total confusion on his face turned to walk around the car but stopped, spun around to face his brother and simply said "Sorry Sammy" before continuing to the passenger side, falling into the seat, buckling the belt and leaning his head against the soft padding of his baby.

Sam offered to put the music on but Dean said he didn't feel like it right now so they drove in silence, Sam's eyes periodically glancing sideways to check his brother was okay and heaved a sigh of relief when he noticed Dean had fallen asleep. "Thank god for that" he whispered.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"_You really have no idea why your dad did this to you." Pastor Jim gently dabbed at the young __hunter's face, the bruise having morphed into a shiny purple colour, covering the entire side of Dean's face._

"_No, like I said, he called us down, sounded pis…, sorry, sounded mad and when I reached the bottom of the stairs he just grabbed me, threw me against the wall, told me he was ashamed to call me his son and took a swing." Dean wiggled his head free so that he could look at Pastor Jim. "Has he said anything to you?"_

"_No son he hasn't, but we'll get to the bottom of it, I promise you."_

"_Well maybe we don't want to get to the bottom of it, maybe it'd be best if we just ditched him, he treats us like crap anyway, we couldn't be worse off than we are now." Sam's voice was hard and cold._

"_Sammy, don't, not now, we don't know what's goin on, this'll all just be a misunderstanding, as soon as dad gets back it'll all be sorted, you'll see._

_Sam mumbled something about some research he had to do and disappeared, the sound of him jogging up the stairs quickly followed by the bedroom door slamming shut telling the two men left behind that there was no way the youngest Winchester was going to drop it any time soon.._

_Dean felt his head pulled back into place so that Pastor Jim could finish taking care of his face._

_The front door slamming shut and the stamp of hard boots quickly making their way along the hall had the two hunters eyes focused on the kitchen entrance, they both quickly loosened their grip on their chosen weapon each had concealed within their clothing on seeing who had arrived._

"_Bobby." Dean gasped._

"_Jim, I need a word."_

"_I'll be with you in a minute Bobby, just need to finish up here."_

"_This won't wait; I __**really**__ need to speak with you __**now**__."_

"_Don't mind me…"_

"_Be quiet Dean, if I'd wanted to speak to you I would've done. Jim." Bobby cut Dean off, his face a mask of barely concealed anger before raising his eyes to Jim and walking towards the back door and out into the rectory's neat garden._

"_I'll be back soon son, just sit tight for a minute or two."_

_Dean watched as the two men he'd known since the age of four, two men he loved as much as he loved his dad and his brother stood at the bottom of the garden deep in conversation. A hand landing on his shoulder had him jumping back in shock. _

"_Geez Sammy, give a guy some warning next time will ya."_

"_Sorry. What does Bobby want?"_

"_I don't know, he just arrived, about took my head off when I spoke to him and then dragged Pastor Jim outside to talk. Whatever it is" Dean stopped as the two men outside looked through the window at him, their faces hard and cold before Pastor Jim lowered his head and nodded sadly "it's not good, that's for sure."_

_Dean and Sam stood shoulder to shoulder as the two older men returned to the kitchen "Sam, we need to speak with your brother alone."_

"_Why? What's wrong?"_

"_Sam" Bobby growled "just give us a coupla minutes will ya."_

"_This has to do with dad doesn't it, I'm st…"_

"_Sam, do as they ask."_

"_Dean."_

"_Please Sam."_

_Sam looked at his brother and glanced at Pastor Jim and Bobby before turning and walking out of the kitchen, the sound of his footsteps on the stairs signalling that they were alone._

"_What's this about?" Dean asked._

"_Like you don't know. I can't believe you could sit here and not say a word, how could you have changed so much Dean. I've loved you like a son but right now I can hardly bear to look at you. I want you out of my home, immediately."_

_Dean was stunned "What're you talking about, what did I do?"_

_Pastor Jim moved across the short space between them until he was standing toe to toe with the young hunter "I know Dean, I know what you did."_

"_What! I have no idea what you're talking about." And then an idea came into his mind and he grinned "Oh I get it, this is some kind of joke right, what, is Sammy listening on the other side of the door…"_

"_This is no joke boy, get the hell out. NOW!" Bobby grabbed a hold of Dean's arm and began pulling him towards the door. Dean managed to shrug free, the fear that this was real suddenly hitting him._

"_Get off me."_

"_You will leave this house now and you will not come back or so help me, as god is my witness I will kill you myself." Pastor Jim nodded to Bobby and led the way down the hall as Bobby once again took a hold of Dean's arm and dragged him to the front door and practically threw him out of one of the only homes Dean had ever known. The door slamming and the locks turning telling Dean that he wasn't gonna get back inside anytime soon._

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

**T.B.C………………………………Please Review.**

Thanks for reading.

impalapal and sunnyjunedays.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Dream On**_

**Once again I would like to thank sunnyjunedays for her invaluable support in putting this story together. Without her it wouldn't have made it past the first word.**

**Disclaimer****: Supernatural belongs to Kripke and the CW and no matter how much we begged, pleaded and sobbed they would not relinquish their hold, which is a good thing really as it means we get to see more of the awesome Winchester brothers on tv.**

**Spoilers for all seasons.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter Three**

Bobby smiled as he heard the rumble of the impala's engine and threw down the wooden spoon he'd been using to stir the huge pot of chilli he'd made for when the boys arrived.

He was looking forward to seeing them again, happy that they'd managed to work through some of the problems they'd had recently although he was more than a little worried about Sam's call earlier and had made a start on the research but so far he'd come up empty.

Cursing the damn contraption he had to use to get around nowadays Bobby manoeuvred the wheelchair through the kitchen and along the hall and swung the door open, a frown replacing the smile as he noticed Sam driving and Dean slumped against the passenger window. Even from this distance he could see the eldest Winchester wasn't looking his usual full of life self.

Sam leapt from the car and waved a smile at Bobby before running around and opening the passenger door and bending to help his brother out only to have his hand brushed away by Dean who slowly exited the car.

"Good to see ya boys, come on in." Bobby backed his chair up and led the way down the hall, past the cluttered living room and into the equally cluttered kitchen, the aroma of his famous chilli filling the house. "Sit yaselves down and I'll get ya a beer to go with the chilli."

"Bobby, d'you mind if I just go watch some tv, I'm feelin a little tired and I'm not really hungry right now, maybe later though." Dean smiled wearily at the older hunter.

"You okay son."

"Yeah, like I said, just a little tired, that's all." Dean turned and slowly made his way into the other room where he sank onto the sofa, pulled his feet up and sank back against the overstuffed cushions.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"I know you said you were worried about him but I didn't expect this." Bobby's eyes followed the eldest Winchester as he practically dragged himself along.

"Like I told you earlier Bobby, he had this really bad nightmare last night and hasn't been the same since, he seems exhausted, hell he nearly got us both killed on the way here, fell asleep at the wheel. I don't think I've ever seen him like this. Did you find anything?"

"Nothing yet, but judging by the state of him we're gonna need to get a move on and keep a close eye on him. Now, you get some of this down yer and then we'll get to work." Bobby placed a steaming bowl of chilli in front of Sam and got one for himself "Now eat."

Despite wanting nothing more than to boot up the laptop and throw himself into research Sam sat at the kitchen table with Bobby, the two of them discussing Dean but not really coming up with anything that gave them a lead, they really had no idea what they were dealing with.

Sam sat back in his chair, "That was great Bobby, thanks. I'm just gonna go check on Dean before I start trying to figure this out."

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

_Hearing the unmistakable growl of his dad's truck behind him Dean spun around to see the man he'd practically worshipped his whole life leap from the drivers seat__ and stride towards him._

"_The only reason I haven't put a bullet in you is to save your brother having to watch you die so I suggest you do the smart thing and get the hell away from here, you are no longer a part of this family, we don't want to see you, hear from you or even think about you. For the first time in my life I'm glad you mother isn't around, it would've broken her heart to see the son she loved so much turn into what've turned in to. Now go."_

"_Dad I don't understand any of this, what the hell am I supposed to have done. I need someone to talk to me." Dean took a step towards his father only to find himself staggering backwards as once again his dad's clenched fist connected with his left cheekbone._

"_Don't push me boy because I can tell you that I won't think twice about putting you down like the animal you are, now go, it makes me sick to even look at you." John Winchester turned his back on his son and walked towards the house._

_Unable to believe this was real Dean couldn't give up and ran after his dad catching the man's arm and spinning him around "I'm not goin anywhere until you tell me what I'm supposed to have done that is so damn bad, you owe me that much."_

"_I owe you nothing you made your choice now ge…"_

_Dean fell to the ground in agony as a loud blast drowned out his dad's words. He curled into a ball as he fought to quell the fire spreading through his right thigh, tiny specks of blood growing into a single large red damp patch staining and soaking the denim of his jeans. "Wh…What…" He lifted his head and squinted in the direction the blast had come from, the shock at seeing Bobby standing just behind his dad, shotgun in hand rendering him speechless and shattering his heart._

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Sam stood in the doorway simply watching his brother and, satisfied that he was sleeping peacefully was just about to leave when Dean gave an almighty gasp and curled into a ball, sweat running in rivers down his face and his breathing frighteningly ragged.

"Dean. Dean c'mon man, wake up." Sam shook his brother but still he didn't wake. Shaking him harder Sam fell to his knees in relief when finally his brother's pain filled green eyes settled on him.

"Hey, you okay."

"S a m"

"What is it?"

"M'leg."

Sam's eyes lingered for a few moments on his brother's pain filled face, a purple bruise spreading along one side even as he watched, before his eyes slowly travelled down to his brother's legs leaving him gasping in horror at the red stain covering Dean's upper leg and soaking into the cushions on Bobby's sofa.

"Dean what happened?" Sam's hands fumbled in his haste to find the source of the blood "Dean" looking at his brother Sam scooted back so he was eye level with him once more and reassured him "It doesn't look too bad Dean, I'm just gonna go get some stuff to clean it up so I can see better, I'll be back in a minute."

"Okay S'my." Dean's eyes followed his brother as he ran from the room, his ears followed the sound of him running into the kitchen, he froze at the sound of muffled voices 'who was in there with his little brother, was it Bobby? Sammy could get hurt' the terrified thoughts running through his mind, the fear he felt for his brothers safety had him gritting his teeth and rolling himself to the floor where he slowly and painfully brought himself to his knees before latching his fingers onto the arm of the sofa and trying to get to his feet. His first attempt was a no go, the second had him almost there before his leg gave way and he slid back down, at the third attempt he actually made it all the way up , now all he had to do was get from here to the kitchen.

Slowly, inch by inch he shuffled until he was in the middle of the room with nothing to support him, he pulled in a deep breath and readied himself to take the first unaided step and placing his good leg forward he dragged the other to meet it and was congratulating himself when the room started spinning and tilting and the threadbare carpet was rushing up to meet him, but before his body made contact with the floor strong arms wrapped around his chest and held him tight.

Sam's heart leapt into his mouth at the sight of Dean heading for a face plant on the carpet and catapulted him forward "I thought I told you to stay where you were Dean" Sam rested his chin on his brothers head, his arms still holding on tight.

"You okay S'my?"

"AM I OKAY, are you kidding me Dean, you're the one spilling blood everywhere and taking a nosedive and you ask me if I'm okay."

"C'mon Dean, lets get you back to the sofa so's I can take a look at what's goin on." Sam hauled his brother up and practically carried him the short distance before unbuttoning Dean's jeans and carefully removing them.

"D u d e." Dean gasped through the pain.

"Don't worry Dean It's not like I haven't seen it all before."

"J u s d on 't w a n t y o u t o g e t j e a l o u s S'm y."

"Shut up Jerk."

"B i t c h."

"What in heavens name happened to you?"

Dean visibly jumped at the sound of Bobby's voice; his eyes moved to the side and took in the worried face of the man who had all but taken on the role of father to the two of them since their dad had died and no matter how he searched the familiar face he could find no trace contempt that had been clearly visible on the face of the Bobby from his dream but that didn't stop Dean's heart thudding painfully in his chest.

"Dean, you okay son?"

Clearing his throat Dean answered as honestly as he could "L e t y o u k n o w

"Rock salt, Dean you've got rock salt embedded in your leg." Sam's voice was incredulous, he knew for a certainty that it wasn't there when they'd arrived and he hadn't heard a gunshot so where the hell had it come from. "How'd it happen Dean?"

"I…it was…" Dean looked at the worried faces of Sam and Bobby and decided there was nothing for it but to just tell them, no matter how crazy it sounded "D r e a m."

"You had another dream. Dean d'you know you have a bruise on your face, just like you said you had last night but this time I can see it. What the hell?" Sam didn't wait for an answer, instead he busied himself with tending his brothers leg wound, he as gently as he could used tweezers to pluck the rock salt out of the bloody flesh, all the time trying to close his ears to his brothers grunts of pain, once he was happy he'd removed it all he cleaned the area and then, after warning his brother what was to come, poured antiseptic over the wound before grabbing a bottle of holy water, his eyes momentarily connecting with his brothers, before pouring half the contents over the wound, the sizzling flesh and agonized gasps coming from Dean causing the bile to rise to the back of his throat and his fingers to wrap around his brothers hand in an effort to give him some small comfort.

After wrapping a bandage around Dean's thigh and giving him couple of Tylenol Sam sat back on his haunches and ran shaking fingers through his hair before once again bringing his eyes to meet his brothers "Tell us about the dream."

Sam and Bobby listened in horror as Dean recounted the details of his latest venture into his nightmare world.

"What d'you think Bobby? Sam asked the older hunter sitting with them. Bobby simply shook his head and mumbled something about having to check to make sure he'd turned the stove off before manoeuvring his chair out of the room, eyes suspiciously bright.

Sam and Dean faced one another, each wearing a matching frown "That was weird" Sam voiced the very words Dean was thinking.

Reaching forward to grasp his brother's arm Dean hauled himself up, brushing Sam's hand away as his brother placed his arm around his shoulders "I can walk Sam" and unsteadily tried to prove his point by tottering a couple of steps before being forced to grab a hold of the back of a chair.

"Yeah, I can see that, stubborn ass." Sam reached his brother in one long stride and in mock roughness wrapped long fingers around his hobbling siblings upper arm and led him out of the lounge and into the kitchen where they found Bobby, head in hands at the kitchen table.

"Bobby?" They said in unison.

Bobby kept his gaze lowered whilst he desperately tried to pull himself together; he didn't want 'his' boys to see him like this. The fact that he had been the one in Dean's dream that'd inflicted the wounds on the boy had hit him hard and as crazy as it sounded he felt the weight of guilt dragging him down as if he'd actually done it, as if it was reality and not just some stupid fucked up dream the kid'd had, but was it a dream, that was what was really bothering him, Dean'd woken with a gunshot wound to the leg and a bruise covering one side of his face, if it wasn't real then where the hell had those injuries come from.

"Bobby, is everything okay." It was Sam who asked this time.

"Is everything okay, is everything okay, are you fer real, of course everything's not okay, your brother's having nightmares where I shoot him full of rock salt and his daddy takes a swing at him, he wakes up dripping blood all over the damn place and his face looks as though he's gone ten rounds with steamroller, no Sam, everything's not okay, now if you can't say anything that makes sense don't say anything at all yer damn idjit." Bobby banged clenched fists on the table top sending a pile of dishes stacked on the edge clattering to the floor where they smashed into what looked like a million pieces.

"Sorry." Sam whispered, not used to seeing Bobby's anger directed at him.

"No, you know what, you're out of order Bobby, it's not Sam's fault, none of this is down to him, hell I wish I knew what was goin on but I don't and neither do you so taking it out on Sammy's not gonna help anyone. C'mon Sammy, we're goin." Dean spun as best he could and limped toward the door, grabbing Sam's arm and pulling him behind him.

"But that's just it, I do know what's goin on." Bobby's words brought the brothers to a standstill, both of them turning and fixing their eyes on the old hunter who slowly raised his head and with a smile on his face stood upright, sending his wheelchair careening backwards until it crashed into the cupboard behind him "You Dean should watch your tongue, a little respect when talking to your elders and betters wouldn't go amiss."

Without warning and before either of them could react; Dean watched helplessly as his brother was tossed across the kitchen, slammed into the wall opposite and held by invisible restraints.

Peeling his eyes away from his brother Dean settled his gaze on Bobby, the shock of seeing glistening black eyes staring back at him causing him to take an involuntary step back and nearly lose his balance. "Let my brother go."

"Oh I'll let him go, maybe, but first we need to have a little chat." 'Bobby' slowly walked towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"Dean. Dean can you hear me."

Dean's eyes focused on the face in front of him "Sam? Sam, you okay, how'd you get free?"

"What? Dean, you okay, you zoned out on me for a while there man."

Dean moved his eyes around the room, he was still lying on the sofa, his leg hurt like a bitch, his face ached and Bobby was behind Sam, still in his wheelchair.

Clearing his throat he answered as best he could "Yeah, I'm okay, guess it must be the Tylenol."

"What did you mean "How did I get free."

"Huh?"

"You said 'how did you get free?'"

"Did i?"

"Yeah, now what happened and before you give me some kinda crap just remember that if we're gonna find out what's goin on I need to know everything, so spill."

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"That's me done for today, I don't know 'bout you boys but I need to get some sleep." Bobby wheeled himself toward the door "Don't stay up too long, the both of you look like you haven't slept in a month" was his parting shot before he disappeared into the hall leaving the brothers alone.

"He's right, we should get some rest." Sam stacked his notes and shut the lap top down before standing and moving towards the door "Dean?"

"You go Sammy, I'm not really tired."

"That's crap Dean, the bags under your eyes get any bigger and we'll be able to do away with the duffels, now come on, get some rest." Sam waited for some reaction from his brother, was expecting some smart comeback, his worry shooting up the scale when the only response he received was silence.

Walking back into the room he sat beside his brother "What is it?"

Dean gave a sideways glance at Sam, he really didn't want to admit what he was gonna have to admit any minute now. "I don't wanna go to sleep Sammy, cos I don't wanna dream." There he'd said it and yep, he'd been right, his brother's eyes immediately glistened, his face took on that worried look and the fingers of his left hand repeatedly pulled at the fingers of his right.

"You can't just not sleep. Maybe if you take some Tylenol it'll send you into a deep enough sleep that you won't dream." Sam offered, knowing that it was weak at best but it was all he had right now, his brother looked like death warmed over and Sam knew for a fact that if Dean didn't get some rest soon he'd simply collapse from exhaustion.

"D'ya think that'll work." Dean looked hopefully at his brother.

"Only one way to find out" Sam jogged from the room and into the kitchen, being careful not to make too much noise when passing the small library-come-bedroom for Bobby, since being confined to the wheelchair made the stairs impossible and Bobby refused to have any alterations done to the house to accommodate him, his determination that he would soon be able to ditch the damn contraption acting as legs still in full force. Grabbing a glass and rifling through his duffle Sam tipped out three of the pills in his palm and stuffed the remainder in his jeans pocket, he didn't want Dean taking more than this.

After watching his brother swallow the pills Sam followed him out of the cluttered room and up the stairs, pausing outside his room "You gonna be okay Dean."

"Yeah, see'ya in the morning Sam" then after a heartbeat "Sammy, thanks." Dean disappeared behind the door of what had always been his room whenever they visited Bobby's.

Sam stared at the closed door for a few seconds before silently nodding and entering his own room.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Screwing his closed eyes tight in an effort to block out the bright light Sam turned his face into the pillow, reluctant to climb out of the warm comfortable nest he'd made amongst the sheets and blankets of his bed, but then images of his brother from yesterday lying on the sofa had him throwing the covers off and scrambling to his feet, the sheet wrapping around his feet and nearly sending him crashing to the floor. Cursing, Sam untangled himself and quickly pulled on his jeans and was out the door, still pulling a t-shirt over his head.

Reaching Dean's bedroom door Sam knocked quietly before entering, the sight of the empty bed sending his heart racing, turning and running to the bathroom Sam flung the door open only to find it as empty as his brother's room. He ran for the stairs and leapt down them, narrowly avoiding taking a dive in his haste. He checked the living room, no Dean, he checked Bobby's room, no Dean and then he burst into the kitchen, the scene before him stopping him in his tracks.

Dean was standing at the stove happily tossing a pancake out of an old pan and onto the stack he'd obviously already made, his face completely devoid of any of the exhaustion and pain it'd worn the previous night but still sporting the bruise. Bobby, mug of coffee in hand was animatedly telling Dean about some hunt or other.

"Dean?"

The two hunter's heads turned in his direction with Bobby offering a "Mornin Sam" before Dean put his brother's mind at rest with his words.

"Hey Sammy, thought you were gonna sleep all day, gotta tell ya that would'a been a shame, you'da missed out on my awesome pancakes and hey, get this, Bobby's got maple syrup and chocolate. What, you gonna stand there all day, sit down Sammy and tuck in, I'm starving."

Sam took his place at the table, eyes flitting between his brother and Bobby "D'you sleep okay Dean?"

Dean raised his eyes to his brother "You were right Sam, I slept like a baby, my leg still hurts and I know the bruise is still there but I feel good so before we dive back into research I'm gonna enjoy these" Dean stabbed his fork into the pile of pancakes on his plate "then I'm gonna take a look at the underside of Bobby's car for him, see if I can find out what's making the knocking noise he can hear, now eat up."

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

With the dishes cleared away, Bobby sitting amidst a pile of books and Sam in front of the laptop Dean made his way outside and to Bobby's car where, after jacking it up a little he slid underneath spending the next forty minutes tinkering and tapping, screwing and unscrewing and giving it a general overhaul completely oblivious to his brothers frequent checks.

After sliding out and pulling himself upright Dean bent to massage the ache out of his injured leg when a hard blow to the middle of his back sent him falling face first into the dusty ground.

Rolling over as quickly as he could Dean's eyes landed on a guy wielding a crow bar flanked by a couple of heavies on either side of him. Before he could get his breath back the guy took a step towards him.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy did you Dean?"

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

**T.B.C…………………………….It'd be great to hear from you.**

Thanks for reading.

impalapal and sunnyjunedays.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Dream On**_

**Once again I would like to thank sunnyjunedays for her invaluable support in putting this story together. Without her it wouldn't have made it past the first word.**

**Disclaimer****: Supernatural belongs to Kripke and the CW and no matter how much we begged, pleaded and sobbed they would not relinquish their hold, which is a good thing really as it means we get to see more of the awesome Winchester brothers on tv.**

**Spoilers for all seasons.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter ****Four**

Keeping his eyes on the three men in front of him Dean scooted backwards and cursed as his back came into contact with the body of Bobby's car leaving him with no option other than to face his attackers.

"Who are you?"

"It's taken us a long time to track you down, you and your brother that is. I have to congratulate you Dean, you two disappeared off the radar, one minute you were there and the next 'poooff' you were gone, you have no idea how irritating that was, I mean we have a job to do, you know what it's like, deadlines to meet, targets to achieve, so you can imagine how pissed we were when you practically faded from view but we kept looking, searched under every rock until we finally caught your scent." The guy smiled down at his captive audience "Now, to answer your question" the smile growing even wider as his eyes were transformed into glistening pools of black.

Dean stared disbelieving at the demons before him, taking in the black eyes of the three men and shaking his head "You're not real, you can't be here, I'm hallucinating." Dean knew that Bobby had put extra protection in the house and around his yard and had promised both him and Sam 'no demons getting in here anytime soon.' Great job there Bobby Dean thought to himself but then there was the protection that he and Sam had, even Cas couldn't find them, obviously angel proof but not demon proof.

"Oh you think we're not real, that's almost too cute." With a flick of its wrist the demon sent an old rusted tire iron discarded beside one of the many wrecks in Bobby's yard hurtling through the air at speed before it changed direction and slammed into Dean's already injured thigh, embedding itself into the tattered flesh.

"Oh god, you sonnuvabitch." Dean gasped as he doubled over, the fire spreading through his leg taking his breath away. Slowly raising his eyes he watched as with another flick of its wrist the demon sent him careening across the yard, his body slamming into the unforgiving brick of Bobby's workshop, leaving him unable to move, invisible restraints holding him tight, the full weight of the tire iron dragging down skin and gouging the flesh underneath leaving a bloody pool beneath him.

"Still think we're not real?" The three demons strolled toward him.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"**Dean! Dean!"**

Dean fought to peel his eyes open, his little brother's voice sounding scared and desperate but he couldn't get his mind to focus on anything other than the fire raging through every inch of his body, the white hot all consuming agony coursing through his leg almost more than he could bear, the pancakes he'd eaten earlier already on the way to making an impromptu reappearance and his body's instincts took over, he rolled onto his side just as his stomach violently ejected its contents onto the dusty ground.

"Dean, hey c'mon Dean, open your eyes."

This time his mind co-operated with his demands and he slowly rolled his lids back, the sight of his brother kneeling beside him, his face ashen. "Sam, s'okay" he whispered.

"It's not okay, you're not okay, what happened? D'you think you can stand?"

"One question at a time Sammy." Dean breathed as his hand travelled to his leg.

"It's gone, I took it out. It wasn't too deep but you're gonna need stitches and we'll need to keep an eye on it but it should heal okay if you give it time, and you are gonna give it time. C'mon, let's get you inside."

Sam practically carried his brother into the house where a stunned Bobby rushed to meet them. "What on god's earth happened to him?"

Sam spent the next hour and a half cleaning Dean's leg, all the time keeping a close eye on him and chattering away about anything and everything that came into his head, except how this had happened. Sam could see how much pain his brother was in even though he knew his older sibling wouldn't admit to it, but the fever bright eyes and muffled grunts told him all he needed to know.

Happy that the wound was now free of any debris Sam reached over and plucked a bottle of antiseptic, holding it so that Dean could clearly see what it was and could at least in some small way prepare himself for the agony that was to come.

Sam silently nodded to Bobby who pulled his chair as close to the head of the sofa as he could and without warning wrapped his arms around Dean's upper body, pinning the young hunters arms by his side whilst Sam rose from his knees and looking at Dean once more whispered "I'm sorry" before straddling his brothers lower legs, therefore making it impossible for him to move, he then, with shaking hands, poured the antiseptic directly into and over the entire bloody wound.

The effect on Dean was immediate, his breathing increased until he was panting, his face screwed up tight and sweat ran in rivers down his face as he tried with all his might to break free of the two men holding him down whilst the antiseptic burned and furrowed through his flesh like a red hot poker.

And then the world went black as he gave into his body's demands to escape the agony.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

_Dean peered through the window of the motel he'd been holed up in for the last forty- eight hours. He'd tended his leg as best he could but the knowledge that it was Bobby who'd shot him devastated him, he'd tried countless times to brush it off, tell himself it didn't matter, that they, his dad and Pastor Jim included were obviously the victims of some kind of mind control, or even possession but still he couldn't console himself. Bobby, along with Pastor Jim was one of the few people Dean felt he could trust and would often turn to when he was a kid and was worried about something, usually it would be when his dad hadn't returned home at the time he'd said he would but more often than not it would be about Sammy._

"_Sammy." Dean looked at his watch and sighed, there was still a half hour to go before his brother was due to arrive. _

_Dean knew his brother hadn't witnessed the events of two days ago; Sam would've done something, he wouldn'tve simply stood by and watched as his brother was shot. Dean knew Sam stil__l carried his own guilt at having shot Dean a few years ago when they'd been working that asylum job in Illinois and would not have allowed it to happen again if there was anything he could've done about it. _

_He__ recalled the phone conversation he'd had with Sam after he'd booked into the motel, he still couldn't believe his luck at finding the impala's keys in his jacket pocket and had dragged himself to the car where he immediately drove to the motel on the edge of town, he didn't want to leave town but he didn't want to be too close to Pastor Jim's place either right now._

"_Sam, Sammy, thank god." _

"_Dean, are you okay?"_

"_I'll live."_

"_What the hell happened?"_

"_You didn't see?" Dean questioned his brother although he was certain that he was right in his assumption that there was no way Sam could've stood by and watched him being shot._

"_No. Pastor Jim sent me down to his basement library to look for a book and when I came back dad was there, him, Bobby and Pastor Jim were mad as hell and you were gone. I kept asking them where you were but dad just told me they'd explain it all later and that you wouldn't be around for a while and then he wanted to me promise that I wouldn't try to contact you, at least until the three of them had had a chance to bring me up to speed."_

_Dean breathed a sigh of relief, he knew he was right about his brother but it was still good to have it confirmed. "And you still called me? Sam, don't put yourself in danger, I don't know what's goin on but you need to get outta there."_

"_Dean, for one, I didn't make any promises and second, I'm not goin anywhere until they tell me what this is all about."_

"_Sam…"_

"_Dean I gotta go, someone's coming, don't call me I'll call you."_

_Dean stared down at the now silent phone before throwing it onto the table and looking around the shabby room. He grabbed the tv remote and fell onto the bed where he spent the rest of the day and night flicking through channels and checking his phone was still working._

_By lunchtime the next day Dean couldn't wait any longer and grabbed his phone, hit speed-dial for Sam and waited, wanting to crush the damn thing under foot on hearing "Hi this is Sam, sorry I can't take your call, please leave a message" followed by a beep._

_After quickly changing the dressing on his leg Dean once again turned his attention to the tv and was just about ready to smash the ancient heap to pieces when his phone rang, the caller id once again lit up with his brothers name._

"_Sam, bout time, I'm goin crazy here. You okay? D'you manage to find anything out?"_

"_Dean if you'll let me get a word in; I don't have long. I'm gonna come see you tomorrow morning and yes Dean, I do know what's goin on."_

_Dean frowned as he pulled the phone away from his ear; disappointed that he'd been unable to speak longer but relieved that tomorrow at least he'd get some answers._

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"Hey, bout time you woke up." Sam's face hovered over him.

"How long've I been out."

"Twelve hours Dean, you had us worried, nearly took you to the hospital."

"No 'spital." Dean became agitated.

"Okay, okay, calm down, no hospital."

"Where's dad?"

"Dad? Dean you know dad's gone?" Sam frowned as he answered his brother, his face searching the drawn features.

"Dad's gone? Where'd he go? What about Bobby?" Dean's bleary eyes took in the room, breath hitching and panic rising when he realised he was in 'his' room at Bobby's place.

"Bobby's downstairs, d'you wanna see him; I could try and help him up here."

"NO, no I don't wanna see him." Dean closed his eyes, springing them open almost immediately when he realised that if he was in Bobby's house then Bobby must also be around, but 'Bobby wouldn't do anything to hurt me.' 'Bobby shot me.' The confused thoughts swirled and collided leaving him confused as to what was real and what wasn't.

"What's goin on?"

Dean peered at his brother under half closed lids, the pull of sleep too strong for him to resist "Nothin, nothin's wrong, just, I dunno..."

Sam watched his brother's eyes slide closed as he once again succumbed to his body's demands for rest and sank back into the chair beside the bed, his mind telling him that Dean was just tired, it was the drugs talking but his heart and the ever present pit in his stomach telling him there was more to it than that.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Sam refused to leave Dean's bedside for the next three days, his worry over the fever burning its way through his brother's body, the thrashing of his arms and legs and the intermittent mumblings paralysing him with fear. Time and time again he'd tried to hold his brother to keep him still, would whisper in his ear in the hope he could hear him, that he could reassure him that whatever he was seeing wherever he was, it wasn't real, it was merely a dream or an hallucination or something. In reality Sam didn't know what was going on with Dean and had no idea how to help him other than what he was already doing which as far as Sam was concerned wasn't enough, he needed to find a way to make things right for his brother.

Sam was pulled from his thoughts by Bobby calling him from downstairs and reluctantly tore his eyes away from the thankfully peacefully resting form of his brother and quickly ran from the room to lean over the banister "What is it Bobby."

"How's he doin?"

"Still the same. I don't know what to do for him Bobby."

Even from this distance Bobby could see the fear reflected in the expressive hazel eyes of the young hunter and his heart broke for the kid "Give yerself a break Sam, I've made you somthin to eat."

"I'm not hungry Bobby, thanks all the same, I think I'd rather stay here."

"That wasn't a request son, now get your butt down here before I'm forced to drag myself up there and fetch yer."

"Bobby I don't wanna leave him."

"Sam, he aint opened his eyes in three days, I think you'll be safe to take a few minutes out, what good're you gonna be to him if you make yerself ill huh, Dean's gonna need you at the top of your game if he's gonna fight this, if we're all gonna fight this. Hell Sam, we don't even know what this is."

Sam hesitated, he knew Bobby was right, they did need to find out what was going on, had to delve further into the dreams Dean'd been having, the injuries he'd received from nowhere but Sam also wanted to be with his brother, couldn't bear the thought of him waking up alone, not after everything he'd been through.

"Look Sam, if you don't like the idea of him being up there and you being down here then lets move him, bring his bed downstairs, then we can both keep an eye on him, whaddya say?

Listening to Bobby, the way his voice cracked, the way he continually cleared his throat, the emotion laced through the words and Sam knew Bobby was equally as worried as he himself was and decided that that was the only thing to do, move Dean downstairs where both he and Bobby could research and watch out for him at the same time.

Running back into Dean's room Sam slowly pulled the blankets off his brother's prostrate form before placing one large hand under his head and removed the pillow, gently lowering Dean back down afterwards. He then gathered up the bedclothes and ran into the hall where he shouted "Bobby" and threw the bundle down the stairs, the startled "Ya coulda warned me ya idgit" bringing a small smile to his lips. Then Sam returned to his brother's room and slid a strong arm under his siblings knees and another under his neck before gently lifting and carrying his precious cargo carefully down the stairs and into the lounge where he laid him on the worn but comfortable sofa. He then put the pillow in place and pulled the covers over his still unconscious brother.

"He shoulda woken up by now Bobby."

"Sam, he's had a rough time lately, he's taken a batterin both physically and mentally, this is just his body's way of tryin to fix everything." Bobby tried to reassure the young man hovering worriedly over his brother, when in reality he was just as worried. Sure Dean'd had a nasty injury, the infection they'd been unable to stop had run rampant throughout his body for a good forty eight hours but now the kid's temperature was practically back to normal and in all honesty Bobby didn't know why he hadn't opened his eyes yet and if he was honest he had no idea what they were gonna do if this continued for much longer.

"Yeah, you're right Bobby, we'll just give him some time." Sam nodded, his eyes remaining on his brother.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"_A loud knock on the door had Dean __shuffling himself off the top of the bed and limping across the small room before pulling his gun and reaching out to open the door, his relief at seeing the identity of the visitor evident by the smile gracing his face._

"_Sam, thank god, I'm goin crazy here, please tell me you got somethin." Dean spoke the words in a rush as he stood back to let his brother inside._

"_Shut up Dean." Were the only words Sam spoke as he pushed past his brother and strode into the room, stopping and spinning to face his sibling once he heard the door close._

"_Sammy, what's wrong?"_

"_What's wrong Dean, I'll tell you what's wrong."_

_Dean waited, unable to say anything, the knot forming in his stomach doing nothing to ease his mind._

"_Dean, dad told me something before I left this morning." _

"_What did he tell you Sammy." Dean's fear rocketed._

"_Dad told me that I might have to kill you Dean."_

"_What, what're you talkin about?"_

"_Dad told me that if I couldn't prove you hadn't done it then I'd have to kill you."_

"_Done what?" Dean took a step towards his brother, a flash of him and Sam standing beside a river flitting through his mind. "What does he think I did?"_

_Sam lunged forward taking Dean by surprise and had him pinned against the wall, their faces inches apart, the look of disgust, hatred and anger something Dean had never seen directed at him before, hell he didn't think he'd ever seen Sam like this. Even with everything they saw every day Sam always would try to find a reason for why whatever it was had acted in the way it had, he believed there was a reason for everything, or he used to at least._

"_I thought dad was crazy when he told me, was ready to take him apart for the way he was talkin about you. I didn't want to believe it Dean; that you could have done that but it's true, it's all true isn't it?" Sam pulled his hand back and smashed it against his brothers face, the satisfying crack as it made contact with flesh and bone only spurring him on to take another shot before snarling "Hit me back Dean, you know you want to, c'mon, take a shot. Sam backed away as he goaded his brother._

"_I'm not gonna hit you Sam." Dean brought his hand up to stem the flow of blood from his nose "What did they tell you? You have to tell me, you owe me that much?"_

"_Owe you, what do I owe you Dean, is it because you carried me out of the house the night mom died, is it because you took care of me when I was growing up, is it because you were there for me after Jessica died, is it because you were there for me when I started having the visions? The truth is Dean, that all happened because of you. Mom dying, you acting as a surrogate parent, Jess dying, my visions, everything Dean, all of that…" _

"_SAM for gods sake tell me what the hell this is all about, what did dad say?" Dean interrupted his brothers violent outburst and could only watch in shock as Sam pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans, levelled it towards him, flicked the safety off and squeezed the trigger, Sam's wrist jerking upwards at the last possible second sending the bullet skywards where it lodged itself in the ceiling "Next time Dean, I'll really do it, but for now I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt, I'm gonna look into what dad and the others told me, hell what they've practically proved to me to see if there's any possible doubt, although I have to tell you, it's not looking good so if I were you I'd get the hell out of town." With those parting words Sam turned, yanked the door open and stormed out leaving Dean staring after him in complete shock._

_Sliding down the wall until he was sitting hunched on the floor Dean, his mind not registering the pain or the red stain spreading across the fabric of his jeans as the wound on his leg reopened as the skin stretched, recalled everything Sam had said to him, searched his memory for anything which could have caused his dad to think that he'd been in any small way responsible for his mom's death, for Jess's death but there was nothing, absolutely nothing to suggest he was guilty of doing anything other than taking care of his family in the best way he knew how._

_Dean knew that he sometimes got a little obsessed with making sure his family were okay, were safe but he had never done anything that wasn't necessary to protect them, there was always a reason for his actions and Sammy knew that, at least Dean had thought his brother knew that about him, apparently that wasn't the case._

_Dean didn't know how long he'd been sitting on the floor, judging by the dried blood around his nose, his aching legs and the total lack of feeling in his feet he figured it must've been a quite a while. Moving slowly he pulled himself to his knees and using the table, levered himself upright and was just contemplating a visit to the bathroom to clean up when a loud banging on the door grabbed his attention._

_Moving slowly towards the door Dean reached into his waistband for the gun he always kept there before peering through the viewing hole. There was no one there. He inched the door open and senses on high alert, went outside, his eyes scanning the deserted parking lot. There was no one, not one soul visible, the place was silent apart from the sound of traffic coming from the road up ahe__ad. With a sigh but still ready should anyone or anything make an unexpected appearance Dean headed back to his room, kicking the door shut behind him and replacing the gun to its regular spot._

"_Hi Dean."_

_Dean spun, the gun instantly in his grasp once again as he came face to face with a guy, a guy who looked vaguely familiar. He knew he'd seen him before but just couldn't pinpoint where or when, the hair rising on the back of his neck however telling him that whoever this was it wasn't good. "Who are you?"_

"_I'm hurt Dean, you don't remember our last meeting?"_

"_I said; who are you?" Dean flicked the safety off his gun, his finger slowly squeezing the trigger "Start talking whilst you still can._

_For starters, you can put that away, it's not even gonna tickle and you don't have the colt do you Dean, you and your brother carelessly let it go." The guy's eyes transforming from light blue to a shiny, velvety black._

_Eyes darting to his jacket thrown over the back of a chair Dean took a slow step sideways but found himself powering backwards until he was pressed against the wall, his arms and legs pinned motionless against the shabby wallpaper._

"_You really think I'm gonna let you douse me with holy water. Tut tut Dean, that's not very nice." Taking a step back the demon observed its prey "How's the leg?"_

_Dean's mind raced; his leg, there was something at the back of his mind but he couldn't grasp it. The vision of Bobby pulling the trigger and shooting him full of rocksalt suddenly wavered, became blurry, his dad taking a swing at him flashing in and out of focus, Pastor Jim's anger replaced by an image Dean remembered of the man from when he was a kid, the image of Sam's visit just a short time ago fading in and out the anger that had masked his face replaced by one of Sam standing over him, his voice whispering words he couldn't quite make out. _

_Screwing his eyes tightly shut Dean tried to sort through the jumble of thoughts crashing around his head. "I've seen you before,But where? what do you want?." Dean quietly muttered the words_

"_Bravo Dean. There are those that think you're a little slow on the uptake but not me, I knew it wouldn't take you long to begin figuring it out."_

_Dean was unable to stop the giggle bubbling beneath the surface from erupting into hysterical, breath-hitching roars of laughter._

"_I'm glad you find this so amusing Dean, lets see how you feel now." The demon closed in on the hunter and pressed a hand over his heart, all the time its black eyes boring into the green of its captive. _

_The laughter quickly turned into gasps as images of his life flashed in front of his eyes, so real they seemed, he felt as though he could reach out and touch them. _

_The vision of his mom sitting up in a hospital bed, a tiny bundle cradled in her arms, a loving smile on her face as the little boy ran across the room and jumped onto the bed, his excited chatter ringing around the room._

"_Mommy, mommy I missed you. Is that him, is that my little brother?"_

"_Careful there champ." His dad chasing after him, a huge smile on his face._

"_It sure is sweetie. You want a peek?"_

"_Yes mommy."_

_His mom inched the fluffy blue blanket back to reveal a tiny screwed up face. "He's a bit little mommy."_

_Mom laughed "Don't worry honey, he'll grow."_

"_Is he gonna be__ a Sammy like we said?"_

"_Yeah, he's Sammy."_

_Little Dean peered closer at the tiny bundle "Sammy, I'm your big brother Dean and I'm gonna teach you lots and lots of things and I'm always gonna look after you but first you gotta wake up."_

_In an instant the tiny bundle wriggled and his lids sprang open, the bright eyes fixing on the green of his big brother. "Mommy, Daddy, he knows me."_

_As abruptly as it had begun the vision ended, leaving Dean staring at an empty space. "Where'd they go?"_

_The demon laughed "You want more, you got it but hold on tight, this is gonna be a bumpy ride."_

_Dean watched in fascination the arrival home of his little brother, the day to day lives of the Winchester family, his mom singing, playing with him, watching over him as he held his baby brother, the fascination turning to terror as he watched his mom carry him into the nursery to say goodnight to Sam._

"_Night Sam."_

_Mom leaning over the crib "Goodnight love." A gentle loving kiss._

_His dad's voice from behind "Hey Dean."_

"_Daddy."_

"_Hey buddy." Dad swinging him high and holding him tight._

"_So whaddya think, you think Sammy's ready to toss around a football."_

"_No daddy."_

"_No." Dad hugging him tight._

_Dean watched as his tiny self was tucked into bed by his dad__ as his four year old self slept the sleep of the innocent._

_He shouted his mom as she woke, climbed out of bed, entered the nursery, checked out the flickering light, noticed the tv on downstairs, raced back up the stairs and into the nursery, her baby's name on her lips._

_He watched as she was dragged up the wall and onto the ceiling by an invisible force, as a band of crimson spread across her abdomen, as his dad raced into the room, as he fell to the floor in horror as flames engulfed his wife, as he grabbed a hold of his infant son, as he thrust Sammy into the arms of his terrified four year old brot__her, as he for the first time issued an order to his eldest child._

"_Take your brother outside as fast as you can, don't look back, now Dean, go."_

_His tiny legs pumping as fast as they could as he raced down the stairs, the precious bundle held against his chest, out into the cold night air "It's okay Sammy, I gotcha." His dad scooping him up, the three of them sitting on the impala's hood watching as the fire service put out the flames which had just destroyed their lives._

_Dad banging on a door, the door being opened by a tall, thin man. Pastor Jim. Visiting a scrap yard. Bobby._

_Dean taking care of his baby brother, holding him as he took his first steps, first day at school, first hunt, arguments with dad, Sammy leaving. Jess burning on the ceiling, dragging Sammy to safety, hunts, lots and lots of hunts, dad possessed, tearing his first born to shreds, the semi smashing into the impala, Tessa, dad dying._

_Dean raised his eyes, a stray tear escaping and rolling slowly down the side of his face "That's not true, dad's not dead, I'd know, I'd remember." His eyes searched the face of the demon "You're a lying bastard, he's not dead."_

"_Alistair warned me about your attitude, I can see now that he wasn't wrong. He says hi by the way."_

"_Alistair." Dean whispered the name, visions of himself, hooks embedded into his flesh, chains clanging as he struggled to break free, to escape the torture of his body being sliced and slashed relentlessly, the air thick with the putrid aroma of blood, searing heat, high pitched shrieks and desperate screams echoing all around him, filling the air with terror. _

"_Y'see you do remember, Alistair's going to be so pleased, y'know, he can't wait to get you back, says you were one of the best, if not __**the**__ best he's ever worked with, says you have great potential, but by the by, we're getting off subject here._

"_What subject, other than you being a dumb ass freak who I will take great pleasure in sending back to the pit" Dean spat, the confusion as to what was real and what wasn't clouding his mind._

"_You! You and your incessant interference; your uncanny knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time." _

"_What're you ramblin on about cuz to be honest, I'm getting bored with all this?"_

"_You're standing in your brother's way, can't you see that? You profess to love your brother yet you still prevent him from taking his chosen path."_

_Dean closed his eyes for a second, his head slowly nodding "Oh yeah, and what path might that be?" _

"_You know what path and you also know, deep down, that there's nothing you can do to save your brother from fulfilling his destiny, you can't fight it Dean, just let him go, it's time to move on."_

"_I will never, __**never**__ abandon my brother." The memories of his brother possessed, exorcising demons with just his mind, begging him to understand that he used his powers for good, to help people, to save lives, the broken little brother who sat before him and said he needed to go his own way for a while, brown eyes full of unshed tears, the terrified phone call after Lucifer himself had appeared to his brother in a dream and revealed Sam was his chosen vessel, that it was always going to be Sam. Dean screwed his eyes tightly closed for a few seconds as the recent memories fought for a place in the jumble that was his mind leaving Dean struggling to sort past and present. Was his dad gone? Had he really been to hell and back, literally? Was this all some kind of fucked up dream? He just didn't know anymore. _

_The image of a man wearing a trench coat fad__ed in and out; Dean knew he knew him but just couldn't quite figure out who it was and why he was important in all this, he just knew that he was._

"_You too have a destiny to fulfil Dean, a destiny that me and mine have strived for many years to detour you from and now, finally, I am in a position to do just that. I am going to take you with me, I know so many who would love to reacquaint with you, so I'm going to do the only thing I can; I'm taking you home."_

"_Tell me something first?" Dean stalled for time as he desperately tried to figure a way out of this._

"_Okay, I'll play. What do you want to know?"_

"_Why all this, why not just kill me and drag me down south when you had the chance before?"_

"_This is fun Dean, watching you lose your mind, plus, and this is a big plus, when Sammy finds your body he'll be so grief stricken and wracked with guilt that he couldn't save you that he'll be more" the demon paused "accepting shall we say, of welcoming his new role in this world."_

"_Sam won't, he'll never accept that." Dean's voice was thick with emotion and certainty._

"_But he will, without you standing in his way he'll embrace it. Remember how he trusted Ruby?"_

_The demon moved until it was standing directly in front of Dean "It's time to go."_

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

**T.B.C……………………………….Please Review.**

Thanks for reading.

Impalapal and sunnyjunedays.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Dream On**_

**Once again I would like to thank sunnyjunedays for her invaluable support in putting this story together. Without her it wouldn't have made it past the first word.**

**Disclaimer****: Supernatural belongs to Kripke and the CW and no matter how much we begged, pleaded and sobbed they would not relinquish their hold, which is a good thing really as it means we get to see more of the awesome Winchester brothers on tv.**

**Spoilers for all seasons.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter ****Five**

"Sam, you better get ya ass in here now, somethin's happenin with your brother." Bobby stood rooted to the spot, unable to believe what he was seeing even as he watched it happening.

"What, what is it Bobby?" Sam skidded to a halt, his eyes following the direction of Bobby's stunned gaze.

The two hunters watched as Dean's head snapped to the side, as blood spurted from his nose, as his head snapped to the other side, as a huge bruise took shape, as his body sank into the cushions beneath him as if he was trying to back away from them before he once again returned to the unmoving state he'd been in for the last three days except for a single tear squeezing out of the corner of his eye and rolling slowly down his cheek.

His heart breaking, Sam sank to his knees beside the sofa and rested a hand on his brother's head to check if the fever had returned but found the skin cool to the touch. Leaning forward he whispered into Dean's ear "Dean, I need you to wake up, please wake up, you're scaring me. I don't know how to help you."

Sam sat back on his haunches, he didn't know what to do, so far he'd found nothing that could bring his brother back and he was worried that if he and Bobby didn't find something soon then Dean would never return and Sam knew for a certainty that he couldn't go through losing him again, his blood running cold at the very thought that it could possibly come true. Turning to Bobby he pleaded "Bobby, we have to do something, we're losing him, I can feel it."

Bobby really didn't know what to say to the kid, he knew he was right, that Dean was slipping away from them but he had no idea how to stop it, how to bring the eldest Winchester brother back. He'd pored over every damn book he could lay his hands on, had spoken to all but one of a circle of hunters he trusted but had still found nothing to lead him out of the dark. "We'll figure somethin out Sam, if it takes re-readin all them damn books and payin a visit to every damn hunter that may or may not know somethin, we'll keep tryin, I promise.

"A psychic. Bobby that's what we need." Sam leapt to his feet "I can't believe we didn't think of it before. Is there anyone you know that you trust enough with this?

"Whoa there Sam, just hold up a little; are you sure that's a good idea, I don't need to remind you what happened last time with Pamela."

"Bobby that was different, we're not trying to summon anything this time, we just need someone to make a connection with Dean. C'mon Bobby, unless you can think of something else I don't see that we have any other choice because I am not losing my brother again, I won't, I can't. Sam lowered his gaze.

Bobby watched Sam pace back and forth across the room and knew that the kid was barely holding it together and wished with everything he had that there was something he could do, that he could find a way to get through to Dean, but the truth was they'd tried everything they knew, both he and Sam had worked tirelessly, had left no stone unturned in their quest to bring their absent in all but body family back to them.

"Alright Sam, give me some time an I'll see what I can come up with." Bobby swung his chair and headed over to the cluttered cabinet lining the far wall where he rummaged through a drawer until he found what he was looking for. "Gotcha."

"You found someone?" Sam rushed to Bobby's side expectantly.

"Gimme a chance boy. This" Bobby waved a tattered old notebook in front of him "holds the names of psychics I've worked with before and hunters who may know of others who can help if we get no joy from them."

"C'mon, let's get started." Sam dragged a chair up to the table as Bobby pulled himself forward.

Bobby inwardly sighed, his heart ached for these boys, the two of them had had to deal with some pretty serious crap their whole lives and yet were still two of the most decent people it had ever been his good fortune to know, in fact, if truth were told, he considered them family, the sons he never had.

He and his wife had wanted kids, they'd both dreamed of the day when they'd become parents and would often discuss names and speculate as to which one of them their children would resemble most, his wife always hugging him tight when he declared that he hoped they would look just like her, but they'd been denied the joy of a family by the forces of evil which had infected his wife and left him with no other option than to kill her before she killed him and god only knew how many others, of course, if he knew then what he knew now he might've been able to save her, the guilt of what he did plagued him to this day and would continue to do so until the day he took his last breath.

Sitting back and running shaky fingers through too long hair Sam ran his eyes over the mess of papers in front of him "There's nothing Bobby, no one in all these names who can help us. What're we gonna do now, I don't know what to do for him." Sam's eyes travelled to his brother's still motionless form.

"I don't know kid, wish I did, but I have no idea where to turn next." Bobby rubbed a weary hand across his face.

"I've got it, why didn't I think of it sooner." Sam ran to his brother and knelt beside him, speaking quietly in his ear "This is it Dean, I know how we're gonna help you, how we're gonna get you back. I can't believe I didn't think of this before."

"Sam." Bobby watched as Sam rose to his feet and excitedly paced as he berated himself "Ya gonna share or are ya gonna make me guess."

"Missouri!"

"Missouri? You're kiddin right?"

"No I'm not kidding and you don't get to pull the rug unless you can come up with something else." Sam glared at Bobby, willing him to argue. He was sure this would work, they knew Missouri, okay they hadn't seen her in a while but both he and Dean would call to check on her occasionally and every time they ended the call she would always say 'If you boys ever need anything you call me y'hear.' So Sam was going to take her at her word.

"Sam, all I'm sayin is she's an old woman and…" Bobby didn't get to finish before he was interrupted by Sam.

"I hear what you're saying Bobby, I do but I don't see any other option and okay, it may not work but I have to try something, I can't sit here any longer doing nothing and before you say it I'm not about to drag her all the way down here, all's I want to do is talk to her Bobby, ask her if she knows anything, that's all, for now anyway. Please Bobby, just lets give it a try, we have nothing to lose."

"Okay Sam, okay." Bobby could see how close to breaking that Sam was so decided that for now he'd go along with the idea and reaching for his phone was just about to hit the call button when Sam stopped him.

"No Bobby, let me." Sam grabbed his phone off the table and scrolled through the list of names before finding Missouri and hitting speed-dial.

Even before the first ring had ended the call was picked up, the familiar voice enthusiastically greeting him.

"Sam, oh honey it's so good to hear from you. How're you and that brother of yours? Looking after yourselves I hope. When you gonna come down here and pay me a visit, y'know I'd love ta see ya both..."

"Missouri" Sam interrupted "We need some help, Bobby and me, it'…"

"Your brother, what's happened Sam, is Dean okay?"

"No" Sam's voice was little more than a whisper "He won't wake up and we don't know what to do, we, I thought you might be able to help."

"Okay sweetie, you tell me everything, from the beginning mind, and I'll see if there's anything I can do to help you both."

Sam recounted everything, beginning with Dean's nightmare that first night in the motel and ending with the bloody nose and further bruising Dean had suffered just a short time ago. When he'd finished he remained silent for a moment to reign in his emotions and prepare himself for what the psychic would say.

Missouri listened to all Sam had to say, her heart breaking at the hopelessness reflected in his voice and sinking once she realized she knew what this was and how difficult a time this young man was going to have to endure in his quest to get his brother back and decided she wasn't going to sugar coat it, she'd give it to him straight.

"Sam, the good news is I know what this is. The bad news is it's one of the hardest things to resolve. You're goin to have ta be strong Sam, you're goin to have ta do some things that you're not goin ta like but, and you have to trust me on this; what I'm goin to tell you **is** the only way to get your brother back. I should warn you though Sam, I've done this no more'n half a dozen times and out of those half dozen only two made it, the shock to the body and mind is immense, most people can't withstand it and their body's simply shut down.

Now, do you still have that laptop you always used to be so fond of?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because" Missouri paused "I'm goin to send you the details of everything you need to do, that doesn't mean you can't call me anytime but you're goin to need to read and absorb everything before you begin. Do not begin until you know exactly how you're goin to do it. D'you understand Sam?"

"Yeah, yeah I understand. How longs it gonna take for you to get the stuff to me cos I'm not sure we have the time t…?"

"Just a coupla minutes. I just have to find the file, open it, check it and send it so if you'll just give me your email I'll get right to it." Missouri interrupted.

"Er yeah, sure, d'you have a pen handy." Sam asked, his surprised expression changing into a small smile at the psychic's next words.

"Why so surprised Sam, you think just because I aint as young as I once was that I can't use a computer?"

"Er no, no Missouri i…"

"S'okay honey, I'm just teasin. Okay, I'm sending it now."

Sam ran to his laptop and waited. Sure enough, within a few seconds he heard the familiar melody notifying him that he had unread mail. "I got it Missouri, thanks."

"Sam, you read that carefully and remember, you follow everything to the letter and remember if…when, you get your brother back you're gonna have to tread carefully because as far as Dean is concerned everything he's experienced in his dreams is real, he's gonna be mighty confused until both you and Bobby can get through to him. Take care honey."

"I will and…"

"Just get to it Sam and when this is all over, however it turns out i would love to see you."

"And you will, both Dean and I, we'll both come pay a visit."

Missouri ended the call with a heavy heart and tears in her eyes "Those poor boys" she quietly whispered "I just hope this goes the right way for them."

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"Sam I'm not sure about this." Bobby glanced up from the laptop screen.

"We don't have any other choice Bobby, you heard what Missouri said, this is the only way to get Dean back."

"I know what she said Sam, it's just, I dunno…"

Sam interrupted Bobby "We have to do this Bobby, I can't watch him like this for much longer, look at him, he's not getting any better, he just lies there day after day, I have to do something for him, and god knows what's playing out in his head, I mean what if he does think its real like Missouri said, what if he's going through more of the stuff like when the dreams started, you know how that's gonna make him feel, if he thinks…Bobby I lost my brother once and I'm not gonna lose him again, I'm gonna do this and if you don't wanna be a part of it then…then I'll do it myself."

"Okay, okay, calm down son, I didn't say I wasn't gonna help" Bobby advanced on the young hunter standing in the middle of the room, the expressive face a picture of both determination and fear "Alright, lets get started."

The two hunters spent the following forty minutes gathering everything they would need to put Missouri's plan into action and bring Dean back, the fact it may not work something Sam refused to even consider. There was just one thing left for Sam to do before they could begin, he had to remove every last item of clothing his brother was wearing.

Once Dean was completely naked Sam threw a blanket over him, the chuckle at what he knew his brother's reaction would be transforming into a sob before it reached his lips.

"Ready?" Sam looked to Bobby who simply nodded his answer. "Here goes." Sam reached for the bucket of holy water Bobby had prepared and lifting out the small jug floating on its surface with one hand whilst inching his other under his brothers neck and levered his head and shoulders away from the soft support of the pillow. He shouted over his shoulder "Now Bobby, begin reading now" before turning his attention back to his brother, his eyes resting on the too pale face "Please help me Dean, if you can hear me I need you to fight whatever it is that's keeping you there. Please."

Systematically and with great care Sam doused every inch of his brothers body in holy water before finally throwing the jug into the bucket and sitting back to wait for the next stage. 'That was the easy part' were the only words running through his dread filled mind as Bobby continued to play his part by reading the words Missouri had sent them.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"_Where are we going?" Dean asked, he already knew the answer but it was the only way his mind could come up with to stall the inevitable._

"_You already know the answer to that Dean so I'll assume this is a vain attempt to distract me, well, it's not going to work I'm taking you back to finish what had only just begun when you were spirited away by your angelic saviour. _

_Enough of the delaying tactics already, it's time to go."_

_Dean watched through wide terrified eyes as the demon took a step closer and reached out to grasp his shoulder only for it's hand to hit an invisible barrier, the skin sizzling and blistering._

"_Whatever it is you are you doing Dean I suggest you stop, make it easy on yourself." The demon cradled its hand as it spoke._

_Dean however was not listening to the demon, instead his attention was focused on the echo of a voice he would know anywhere, a voice he'd listened and responded to for most of his life, a voice pleading with him to come back, to help. _

"_Sam?" Dean moved his head to left and then right looking for the source of the voice._

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Sam watched his brother as Bobby finished reading the first part of the ritual and could hardly believe his eyes as Dean's head moved from side to side. "Bobby, Bobby I think it's working, he moved, he knows we're here, I'm sure of it." Sam leapt to his feet in excitement.

"Whilst I'm happy Dean's still in there he's not out of the woods yet not by a long shot so how 'bout we continue." Truthfully Bobby was as excited as Sam and would have joined the young man in leaping up if he wasn't confined to 'this damn contraption.'

Sam hesitantly picked up the large silver knife he and Bobby had decided would be the one to use. Suddenly the sick feeling was back, his stomach churned and his heart pounded at what he was about to do.

"Remember Sam, you have to make four incisions into every injury Dean's suffered since this began, just make sure you hold onto him tight because according to this he should wake after the fourth incision, but you have to finish."

"I got it. I'll start as soon as you begin reading the passage."

"Sam, why don't I come over there and hold him whilst you, y'know?"

"No Bobby, if the reading's interrupted it won't work. I can do this; I can do this for Dean." Sam's voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"Okay kid, if you're sure."

"I'm sure." Before he'd even finished speaking Sam had grabbed the sack of salt he'd retrieved from Bobby's storeroom and was rapidly forming a white circle around himself and the sofa his brother lay on.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"_How're you doing that?" The demon peered at Dean, a look of total confusion on its face as its path forward was once again blocked by an invisible barrier._

_Dean briefly made eye contact with the demon before deciding that for now, it was not a threat but knew he had to get out of the motel room before that changed and focused his mind on his brother, hoping that he would once again hear the familiar voice and somehow respond to the plea it had brokenly whispered. _

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

The silver knife trembled in Sam's grasp as the young hunter poured holy water over the blade in readiness for the next step of the ritual, a step Sam really didn't want to take but one that he knew he had to, he couldn't leave it to Bobby, no, Dean was his brother and he knew he had to do it, knew that Dean would do whatever was necessary to get him back if his little brother was where Dean was right now so Sam braced himself, took a steadying breath and focusing his mind on the end result lowered the blade until it was resting against the faded purple of the first bruise to have appeared just a few days ago, although to Sam it seemed as though weeks and months had passed.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

"_Guh! What…" Dean's wide eyes examined the bloody fingers he'd just removed from the side of his face, the crimson liquid coating them both fascinating and horrifying him as he searched the room for his attacker. "Argh! Show yourself you fucking coward" he gasped as an invisible razor sharp blade once again slowly slid down the side of his face, splitting the skin and releasing a river of blood. He fought to pull his head free from the unseen force holding it still in a vice like grip but could do no more than simply twist it a fraction to the left._

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Sam fought down the bile as his brothers blood began to flow and raised the knife in readiness to make the next incision 'just one more here then move on' he silently instructed himself.

"How's it goin Sam?" Bobby had finished reading the first part of the ritual and now had to wait exactly ninety-three seconds before resuming. Raising his eyes from the stopwatch he looked over to the youngest Winchester "Sam? Sam answer me dammit."

"S'okay Bobby, s'okay. I think its working; he tried to pull away. It's working Bobby." Sam looked over his shoulder at the man who had been his lifeline these last few days and didn't know whether to laugh or cry or do both as his emotions went into overdrive.

Bobby wanted nothing more than to take himself across the room and give the kid a hug but knew that it was imperative he keep Sam focused on the next steps of the ritual "Sam I'm about to start the next reading, you ready?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm ready." Sam wiped the blade clean and dipped it into holy water before taking a steadying breath and once again lowering the blade.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

_As the tip of the invisible blade once again pierced Dean's skin an ear shattering wail immediately followed by a blinding flash of bright yellow light filled the dingy motel room. _

_The crescendo relentlessly continued; Dean's heart thudded painfully in his chest as his eyes desperately searched for a way out but with his body still pinned by invisible restraints there was no escape. _

_Just when he thought his head would explode as the pressure built his eyes were drawn to the demon, a keening sound emanating from the terrified figure before it crumpled bonelessly to the floor and dissolved, leaving nothing more than a damp patch on the threadbare carpet and then all light was extinguished from the room leaving Dean in complete darkness, unable to see even inches in front of him._

"_Wha's goin on?" Dean whispered into the darkness, as he once again tried to break free of the force holding him firmly against the wall and lurched forward as whatever it was disappeared; leaving him unable to stop his body's forward thrust and ended up sprawled face first on the motel room floor._

_Slowly and painfully pulling himself up on to hands and knees Dean's body froze in terror as out of nowhere an enormous ball of fire, orange and red flames dancing across its surface rolled toward him, reducing everything in its path to nothing more than a tiny pile of ash._

_Knowing there was no way he was gonna escape this Dean closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable, the irony that he would die by fire flashing through his mind as the sweat ran in rivers down his face and body from the intense heat as the ball of fire moved ever closer…_

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Thanks for reading

Impalapal and sunnyjunedays.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Dream On**_

**Disclaimer****: Supernatural belongs to Kripke and the CW and no matter how much we begged, pleaded and sobbed they would not relinquish their hold, which is a good thing really as it means we get to see more of the awesome Winchester brothers on tv.**

**Spoilers for all seasons.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter ****Six**

Sam quickly pulled his hand back from where it had been resting on his brother's forehead as the temperature of the skin belonging to the motionless figure suddenly rose to practically sizzling and the sweat literally gushed out of every possible pore.

Behind him Sam could hear Bobby carefully pronounce every word of the ritual in a calm and confident voice and momentarily marvelled at the older hunters ability to turn his hand to just about anything that was thrown at him no matter the circumstances and the turmoil he felt inside, his respect and love for the man reaching new heights.

Sighing, Sam reached for the holy water and dipped a cloth into the cool liquid and remembering that Missouri had said that this was gonna be one of the hardest things he would ever have to witness his brother go through, Sam's mind momentarily flashed back to the time Dean had been electrocuted and lay near to death in a hospital bed, the time the demon had possessed their dad and literally tore his brother to ribbons, the time the djinn took Dean and then, finally Sam's mind conjured up the images of his brother being savagely torn apart by the hellhounds before his soul was dragged into the pits of hell.

Shaking his head in an effort to stop the slide show Sam quickly glanced over his shoulder and noticed for the first time that Bobby was no longer seated across the room reading the ritual but was now beside him and had taken on the task of smoothing the cool, damp cloth over Dean's still burning body.

"Bobby the…you should be rea…" Sam's voice faltered as he struggled to get his emotions under control.

"You seemed a little lost for a while there son so seein as the readin parts done I just thought I'd come on over here and give you a hand. You have to finish this Sam and you have to do it now."

"I know Bobby, I know." Sam couldn't say anymore, he knew he was close to breaking and he also knew that that was not a luxury he could afford right now, his brother's life depended on him remaining focused and strong so he fought down the fear and cleared his mind of everything except his brother and what he knew he had to do next.

Sam dipped the knife in the holy water once again and gave Bobby the signal to stop what he was doing, knowing that if there was more than one person making any kind of physical contact with Dean during this then the ritual wouldn't work and Sam would lose his brother for ever.

Silver knife poised Sam once again steadied his nerves and lowered the blade until it was resting against the angry red and purple still seeping rock salt gunshot wound covering a large area of Dean's thigh. He closed his eyes and whispered a silent plea before putting pressure on the knife, allowing the tip of the blade to pierce the damaged skin and burrow its way into the broken flesh before he pulled the handle downwards therefore slicing the skin diagonally across the wound.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

_Having curled himself into a tight ball in a vain attempt at protecting himself from the advancing ball of fire Dean's body bucked involuntarily as an intense white hot agony spreading across one of his legs threatened to consume him before the fire had the chance to do it's job "Oh god, please I can't take anymore, please just finish this, please" his mind silently screamed._

"_**Dean."**_

_Eyes still closed __Dean's upper body involuntarily catapulted upwards, his arms flailing to catch hold of something, anything to stop the momentum from launching him directly into the heart of the still advancing inferno._

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Bobby reared back in his chair and managed to dodge the flailing arms of the suddenly struggling eldest Winchester; Sam however wasn't so fortunate. Taken by surprise as his brother suddenly lurched upwards he made a vain attempt to hold Dean still and took a powerful punch to the side of the head, sending him careening backwards before finally losing his footing and crashing to the floor. Shaking his head to clear blurred vision Sam scrambled to his feet and scampered back to his brother, literally throwing himself over the still bucking, shaking, panic filled body.

"Dean! Dean, calm down, it's okay; just stop, please Dean, please."

Dean knew he had to get away; he could hear sounds but couldn't distinguish what they were until a heartfelt plea filtered through his panic filled haze "please Dean, please." Those three words stilled his body and brought his eyes springing open, he knew that voice, he knew he knew that voice but he couldn't quite fathom how he knew it; he didn't think it belonged to anyone who would hurt him, or did it? The myriad of thoughts swirled around his mind mingling together; images of his dad and Pastor Jim and Bobby flashing in and out leaving him more confused than ever. He had to get away, had to find some place safe, where no one could find him whilst he tried to figure out what was going on and why.

Attempting to move his legs Dean once again found himself pinned beneath a solid weight and struggled to break free, three agonising slashes to the his thigh coming in rapid succession had him pressing himself back against something soft in an effort to escape the tortuous razor sharp, all consuming agony now coursing the length of his leg.

Sam seized the opportunity to complete the ritual once Dean stilled and forcefully pushed his brother into a laying position before straddling his legs and slicing into his brother's thigh three times exactly as the instructions from Missouri stated.

"That's it Bobby, it's done." Sam pulled himself off his squirming brother and ran a shaky hand through his own sweat soaked hair. "Now we wait; we watch him and we wait." Pulling a chair over Sam sat down heavily and fixed his eyes on his semi-conscious brother.

Unable to find the words or his voice Bobby turned his chair around and wheeled towards the door "I'll get us some coffee" called over his shoulder as he passed through the open space.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Dean could feel himself emerging from the fog of semi consciousness and dared to peek through barely open eyes at his surroundings.

Blinking furiously he scanned as much of the room as he could without moving his head; he didn't want to alert anyone to the fact that he was awake. He took in the shabby over stuffed chairs opposite him, the cluttered coffee table in the middle of the room, the thick brown curtains half drawn across the large window, he could just see out of the corner of his eye a row of shelves lining the opposite wall, each shelf overflowing with books of all shapes, sizes, colours and thickness. And then he became aware of the sound of someone softly breathing, the rhythm following the same pattern, never altering, so he dared to lift his head fractionally and turn slightly to see who was in the room with him.

His eyes landed on a large shape hidden under a blanket, most of the face hidden behind too long shaggy brown hair as whoever it was slept. He jumped as the shape moved but relaxed once again as it settled back into a restless sleep.

Now was his chance, he could make a quick and quiet getaway before the sleeping man awoke. He pushed the blanket covering him downwards and was horrified to see that he was completely naked, not a stitch of clothing anywhere on his body, so, wrapping the blanket as carefully as he could around himself Dean tentatively slid his leg across the small space of the sofa, his eyes scrunching closed as pain shot in all directions causing him to gasp and his eyes to water and slowly, ever so slowly lowered his foot to the floor. His concentration so intense on his escape that he didn't notice the shaggy hair of the other occupant of the room brushed aside, brown eyes watching every move he made and nearly collapsed from shock as a voice softly spoke.

"Dean, hey. Don't try to stand Dean, your leg, it's pretty messed up but if you give it time it will heal, it'll be good as new in no time."

Sinking back against the cushions Dean watched as the man unfolded his gigantic body from the chair and strode toward him, a smile gracing his face.

"Sam?"

"Yeah Dean." Sam crouched beside his brother and waited expectantly.

Dean's eyes searched the face now level with his, his brow furrowing as he took in the look of concern, worry, fear etched across the familiar features "Why d'you come back for me? Where's dad? Is Bobby still here? Pastor Jim?" Dean's wide eyes were fixed on his brother's face as he tremulously enquired after his 'family.'

"Bout damn time you woke up boy, how're yer feelin?" Bobby's gruff voice broke the momentary silence as Sam contemplated the best way of telling his brother about their dad and Pastor Jim.

Bobby carefully manoeuvred himself across the room until he was beside the youngest Winchester, the two of them looking expectantly at their patient who was becoming more and more agitated by the second. He looked from one to the other before lowering his gaze and fidgeting with the blanket covering him, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his face.

"Dean y…" Bobby began but was cut off by Sam.

"It's okay Dean, we'll talk when you're ready." His brother wasn't ready; Sam knew the signs and bailed him out. "Bobby why don't we go and make something to eat and a pot of coffee, give Dean some time to wake up properly and then we can all sit down and talk later. Whaddya say?

Bobby caught the pleading look in Sam's eyes and readily agreed, turning his chair around and leading the way into the kitchen he called over his shoulder "Yer comin or what, cos there aint no waitress service" and then he was gone.

"I better go Dean, you just, just rest; take it easy, we'll be back soon."

"Where're my clothes?" Were the only words Dean uttered.

"Oh, yeah, I'll go get some." Sam jogged out of the room only to return minutes later, his arms full of jeans and a t-shirt, an over shirt, boxers, socks and boots. "Don't try to stand Dean, your legs still pretty bad and you'll only make it worse if you rush things."

Dean simply nodded, his head still lowered he waited until Sam backed away and left the room. Once alone Dean quickly threw the blanket off and struggled as best he could into the clothes before attempting to stand. It took him a good five minutes to get his balance and a great deal of willpower to overcome the thudding in his thigh, not to mention the dizziness and total lack of coordination as he rose to his full height, his only thought to get out of the house, find somewhere to hole up until he could figure out what was going on.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Sitting across the table from one another Sam and Bobby each took a long sip of the steaming strong coffee, both lost in their own thoughts until Sam broke the silence.

"He thinks dad's still alive Bobby, how do I tell him, how do i break his heart all over again. I don't want to do that to him." Sam's voice was heavy with emotion as he slowly lifted his gaze to meet that of the older hunter.

"I know son, I know, but the longer we leave it the worse it's gonna get." Bobby reasoned.

"I know you're right, I just can't figure out how to do it."

Dean had managed to shuffle his way across the lounge and was leaning against the doorpost which would lead him into the hall, to the front door and freedom. He swiped a hand across his forehead to clear the sweat beading there before it ran into his eyes when he heard muffled voices.

Inclining his head forward Dean concentrated his attention on the conversation going on in the room just to the side of him.

"I just can't figure out how to do it." Were the only words he heard before silence fell.

Dean took a quick look at the door to make sure it was closed far enough for him not to be seen as he made his bid for escape and satisfied that he would be able to reach the door front door unobserved he took an agonising step forward before stopping and lowering his head as he waged a silent battle with himself. On the one hand he wanted to get away, as far away as possible from this house, his brother, his dad, Bobby, Pastor Jim and whatever they had in store for him. On the other hand he wanted to know, needed to know what the hell it was he was supposed to have done to have brought about the crushing anger of the only people he had left that he cared for.

Having made the decision that he was going to face this head on Dean scanned his surroundings for a weapon, he didn't want to go in unarmed just in case things turned against him even more than they were now. His eyes fell on a row of hooks on which a number of jackets hung, underneath which sat a small shabby set of drawers.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Each lost in their own thoughts Sam and Bobby were stunned to see the kitchen door thrust open with a very unsteady Dean hobbling through, a sawn off shotgun clutched in a trembling, outstretched hand.

"Dean, woah, just take it easy bro." Sam scrambled to his feet, the chair he'd been sitting on skidding backwards and clattering noisily to the floor, his eyes moving nervously between his brother's face and the shotgun he was holding. He knew that he had to be careful, any sudden unexpected moves and Dean could pull the trigger and Sam knew his brother wouldn't miss, even in the state he was in now Dean would still be able to hit his target. Sam had seen it time and time again over the years, his brother badly injured, barely able to stand let alone see straight and yet he never missed, it was almost as though he had an inbuilt precision marker guiding him.

"I wanna know what's goin on." Dean's voice was little more than a whisper but the two men standing across the room from him knew without a doubt that he wanted answers and wasn't gonna move until he got them.

"Just put the gun down son then we can all sit together and we'll tell you whatever you want to know." Bobby placated with outstretched hands.

"Yeah right, sure we will. Hey" Dean pointed the gun directly toward Sam and continued "How about we start with what you're gonna do with me, I'm sure the two of you can figure something out before dad gets back. Where is he by the way?" Dean suddenly felt exposed with his back to the door, the only entrance to the kitchen and took a quick glance around. "Move" he shook the shotgun to the side indicating that Sam should move in that direction and scrutinized his every move until his brother was exactly where he wanted him to be. Next he did the same thing with Bobby, his eyes widening as he watched the older hunter manoeuvre his wheel chair around the table and over next to Sam.

"Dean…"

"Shut up." Dean' eyes were still on Bobby. "What's goin on with you? Why you in a wheelchair?"

Bobby lowered his head and drew in a shaky breath, he really didn't want to explain it to the kid, hell he didn't even like to think about it himself, it made him feel sick to imagine what could've happened had he not driven that knife into himself.

"I was possessed" Bobby began "A while ago, Meg was around and I managed to somehow get myself possessed. I stuck the knife into myself after I managed to break free of their hold." Bobby raised his head and looked at the young man hoping that he would accept his brief explanation but at the same time not really expecting him to. Seconds later he was proved right.

"You were possessed and stuck a knife into yourself? Why does that sound like a load of crap, I'll tell you why, because it is; I want the truth and I want it now!" Dean put as much venom into his voice as he could muster.

"Okay, you want the whole thing; you got it." Bobby glanced nervously towards Sam before returning his gaze to the increasingly pale young man demanding their attention "I was possessed, Meg was there and she wanted me to kill you and I was gonna do it too, had no control over my own body but you, **you** Dean managed to break through and I was able to fight it, that's when I turned the knife on myself, I grasped the handle of Ruby's demon killing knife and buried it to the hilt in my own gut and that is the reason I'm unable to walk. You and Sam rushed me to the hospital but there was nothing they could do to get me back on my feet but I wasn't worried, I figured that when Cas showed up he'd just work some of his magic and hey presto I'd be upright again, unfortunately Cas was unable to work his mojo because he is now on the run from his own kind and has been stripped of any powers he may have had, healing or otherwise.

And there you have it." Bobby swiped his cap off and ran a hand across the top of his head before replacing it and returning his attention to Dean "and before you even begin thinkin it, it's not your fault, there was nothin you coulda done to stop me an what's more, I'd do it again if I had to so how 'bout you put that shotgun down an hear me an yer brother out?"

"Dean, c'mon man, put the gun down and lets talk." Sam pleaded, his worry for his brother increasing as the older man's already sallow complexion became even more so and the trembling increased. Sam could see Dean was in a lot of pain and just wanted to end this, knew he had to end this.

Dean's mind was still trying to process Bobby's words, to sort them into some sort of order, to see if anything sounded at all familiar but there was nothing, the only images at the forefront of his mind were those of his dad slamming him against the wall, Bobby shooting him, Pastor Jim turning hate filled eyes on him and Sammy levelling a gun at him and there was that name Cas, who was Cas, Dean knew he should know, knew he did know but just couldn't push aside the curtain hiding the identity of the mysterious man.

"Where's dad?"

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than there was a knock at the door followed by a rattle of the door handle as someone attempted to enter.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

**T.B.C…………………………..Please Review**

Thanks for reading.

impalapal and sunnyjunedays


	7. Chapter 7

_**Dream On**_

**Disclaimer****: Supernatural belongs to Kripke and the CW and no matter how much we begged, pleaded and sobbed they would not relinquish their hold, which is a good thing really as it means we get to see more of the awesome Winchester brothers on tv.**

**Spoilers for all seasons.**

**Hope you enjoy the final chapter.**

**Chapter Seven**

"Who's that? Is that dad?" Dean nervously glanced around but still managed to keep Sam and Bobby in his sight.

"It's not your dad Dean, I don't know who it is but it's not your dad so just calm down there son."

"Mr Singer if you're in I have a delivery for you." The courier pressed his face against the frosted glass but was met with only silence from inside the house and couldn't see any signs of movement from within so straightened up and looked down at the parcel in his hand. He knew Mr Singer had had some kind of accident a while ago and was now confined to a wheelchair so didn't want to make the guy take a trip into town to pick his package up from the depot so he decided he'd hide it behind the enormous planter beside the front door and then slide a note under the door explaining what he'd done.

Five minutes later and pleased with himself for saving Mr Singer an unnecessary journey the courier climbed back into his van and was happily singing to himself as he drove out of the junkyard, giving the shiny black classic car parked around the side of the house an appreciative glance as he passed by.

Dean visibly sagged as he heard the mystery caller drive away from the house. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer, his leg was killing him, there was a thudding in his head that threatened to split his skull wide open if he didn't do something about it and he could feel rivers of sweat running down every part of his body not to mention the shivers wracking his body along with the myriad of stabbing, slashing agony raging from the wound in his leg and radiating out to all parts of his body. He knew that the wound must've become infected, could tell from the symptoms, after all he'd suffered them many times before and had witnessed his dad and brother, not to mention others succumbing to the effects far too often during his life. He knew he needed to get help, but from where, who could he trust? Could he risk going to the ER? Maybe he could get in touch with Caleb, or Joshua. No, they would've heard from dad, no he couldn't risk it.

Backing towards the door Dean kept his vision levelled on Sam and Bobby "Don't move, I'm gonna take off and if you try to follow I'll use this." Dean indicated the shotgun with a slight incline of his head.

"Dean you're sick, you need help, let us help you." Sam tried to reason with his brother.

Dean had reached the doorway and placed a hand on the frame to steady himself "Yeah you wanna help me, sure you do, well your kind of help I don't need." Dean forced himself to let go of the door frame and took another step back but was unable to force his legs forward as everything around him swam out of focus, his body felt as though it was on fire and agonising white hot pain exploded in his leg and travelled the length of his body rendering him unable to maintain his balance.

He was aware of the floor rushing up to meet him and readied himself for the impact but instead of his body crashing to the hard unforgiving floor he felt strong arms wrap around him and lower him slowly, gently down until his body was lying flat, his head and shoulders resting against something soft and familiar although for the life of him he couldn't think what it was, fought to get away even though he didn't really want to, he felt safe and anxious and comforted and hurt and wanted, needed, loved and rejected, despised and abandoned all at the same time. God my head hurts he thought as he struggled to hold onto consciousness.

His vision clearing a little Dean squinted upwards, a confused frown lining his face as his eyes came to rest on the downturned full of concern face of his brother and then the world went dark and he succumbed to the pull of the encroaching blackness.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

He was aware of a soft voice uttering something but couldn't quite get his brain to put the sounds together, to make any sense. He inched heavy lids apart blinking furiously to clear his vision, to see who was hovering over him.

"Dean, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me?"

Dean's body stilled and then came the barely audible heartfelt plea which pierced his heart and had him fighting to comply.

"Please Dean, I need you to wake up, you're scaring me."

Dean concentrated every ounce of energy he could muster until his fingers curled around the hand holding his, the immediate response of 'Oh thank god, I thought I'd lost you' spoken with an emotion filled voice left him feeling safe, wanted, cared for. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity Dean didn't feel the need to get away, felt a warmth spread through his body and allowed himself to relax and drift into an easy slumber.

He remembered waking briefly several times, the sound of muted voices echoing around the room and filtering through the fuzziness filling his head before he drifted off to the comforting place where he could escape facing the reality of his world for just a little while longer.

Sam sat on a hard backed chair, his feet resting on the edge of the sofa his brother lay on and his nose buried in a book. He intermittently raised his eyes to check on his sibling only to return them to the words in front of him when the older man remained motionless.

Having read the same page at least four times and still having no idea of the content Sam gently closed the book and placed it on the floor beside him. He took a quick glance at his brother, not really expecting there to be any change, his face transforming at once from one of silent resignation to a dimple inducing grin at the sight of hazy green eyes following his every move.

"Hey." Sam whispered.

"Hey" Dean croaked out as best he could.

"Just wait there, don't move okay, I'll be back in a sec." Sam gabbled as he ran across the room only to return almost instantly carrying a glass of water filled with ice cubes and a straw.

Holding the straw to his brothers lips Sam encouraged Dean to drink; pulling the glass away after the older man had taken a few sips. "Take it easy, you don't want to over do it." Sam smiled. "How you feeling?"

"Not sure." Was the only answer he got.

Dean lowered his eyes from his brothers face and decided it had to be now or never, he was gonna face whatever it was that had kicked this off. "Sam, what di…"

Knowing where his brother was going Sam tried to stall him, there was no way Dean was strong enough yet to hear everything he knew he had to tell him "We'll talk later Dean, when you've got your strength back."

"No, we, I, have to do this now."

Sam remained silent, not knowing where to begin and was surprised when his brother took the lead.

"Whatever it is I did, I'm sorry, I wouldn't have done anything to hurt mom or Jess, I swear Sam, if I could've saved her I would've even if I died trying, you have to believe me." Dean's voice was raw with emotion as he spoke.

"You didn't do anything Dean, anything that is except be there for me my whole life and it wasn't your fault in any way that Jess died. There was nothing you could've done to save her, I know that, I know that even if I hadn't left with you to go find dad Jess would still have died, yellow eyes meant to take her away from me just like he took mom away from both of us and before you ask you couldn't have saved her either, you were four years old man, I mean, what could you have done" Sam finished.

"But dad said it was because of me, all of it was because of me, you even told me that yourself, said dad told you something about me and that if you couldn't prove I didn't do it then you'd have to kill me, so what did he say?" Dean glanced nervously around the room "Where is he, where's dad?" even as he spoke the words seemed strange to him, unreal, like he was reading from a script or the words had been planted in his mind.

For a moment Sam was dumbfounded, he'd assumed that once Dean woke up he'd at least realise the truth about dad but then he remembered what Missouri had told him, she'd said that Dean would be confused, wouldn't know what was real and what wasn't and Sam knew that he'd have to tell his brother that their dad was dead, gone and he wasn't coming back and he'd have to do it right now or there was no knowing what Dean might do.

Sam ran a hand through his hair and sat down heavily on the chair he'd used whilst he kept watch over his unconscious brother. "Okay Dean, I'm gonna fill in the blanks for you. First thing you need to know is that you did nothing wrong, dad was proud of you, loved you and would've done anything to protect you.

Dad died, yellow eyes, the same demon that killed mom and Jess took him, you were in the hospital after the crash, d'you remember the crash?" Sam looked for confirmation from his brother but Dean's face remained impassive and Sam knew that the walls were going back up, Dean was slowly building the barriers around himself again.

"You were dying Dean and there was nothing we could do about it, dad did though, he made a deal and traded his soul for yours, you woke up and were miraculously healed, a couple of hours later dad died." Sam paused again, waiting for some reaction from his brother but when none was forthcoming he continued and told his brother everything including Dean selling his soul to save him, Dean going to hell, being pulled out by the angels, Ruby, Lillith Chuck, everything.

As Sam spoke the images of his words assaulted Dean's mind until finally everything fell into place, like the pieces of a puzzle slotting together, it was all crystal clear, he had it all back, he remembered everything, but there was still one question he needed the answer to.

"What did this to me Sam?"

"It was some kind of dream demon, a real nasty sonuvabitch too, if Sam hadn't done what he did you wouldn't be sittin there now, we'da bin planting you six feet under, again." Bobby's gruff voice cut in.

"How d'you know what to do, have we come up against this before?" Dean wanted to know.

"Not that I can remember and there was nothing in dad's journal" Sam rubbed suddenly weary eyes with the knuckles of both hands before continuing "Missouri gave us the heads up, knew right away what we were dealing with and how to get rid of it."

"Missouri?" Dean questioned, the image of the little black woman scowling at him dancing before his eyes.

"Yeah Dean, Missouri."

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

Sam and Dean chatted into the night until finally Dean persuaded his brother that he was fine and all he really wanted to do was get some sleep and Sam should do the same when in reality all Dean really wanted was some time to think things through, process all that'd happened, work through everything as his memories finally solidified and became complete, his whole life once again locked away in his brain. He needed to sort through the memories, needed to convince himself that he really was in no way responsible for any of the terrible tragedies that had shaped his and his brother's life.

Tomorrow he and Sam would talk some more and Dean would convince his brother and Bobby that he was fine and in a few days they'd leave, Sam says to visit Missouri but Dean still needed convincing on that one and then they'd hit the road once more and continue to hunt things, save people and do their damndest to prevent the apocalypse.

**0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0**

The End.

Thanks for reading.

impalapal and sunnyjunedays.


End file.
